A Little Birdie Told Me
by aflightoffancy
Summary: Supply runs keep going wrong and Max needs to figure out why... MA.
1. Chapter 1

**A Little Birdie Told Me**

Disclaimer : I don't own Dark Angel. I'm pretty sure I'd have taken better care of Alec if I did.

_I know I've shouted it from the rooftops, but for those of you I haven't told, my first novel is up at Amazon(dot)com. It's called _**Stone Pillow**_ and if you like my style, I'd love for you to take a look. It's an adventure and a romance, spunky heroine and wounded hero included, of course._

_But to more important matters. Max and Alec! I've had Alec knowing he liked Max first in the other stories and I thought just for a lark, I'd change that around. 'Cause I was watching Freak Nation and I'd forgotten just how much that episode ticks me off… Speaking from an Alec-lovin' point of view, of course… With the hand holding on top of Alec getting his butt handed to him and then LOGAN saving him (snort- yeah, right), I just get a wee bit annoyed…_

Summary: Supply runs keep going wrong and Max needs to figure out why… MA.

Chapter One

* * *

Sometimes the truth was just ugly. Max knew that more than most people. And the truth was that she needed Alec.

Max needed him and, at the moment, she didn't like it one little bit. She didn't like having to rely on anybody but herself. Running their little transgenic haven, however, required more time than she had in a day. It also took more diplomatic skill than she was even capable of. And that was where Alec came in. Others instinctively fell in line when he asked them to do things and if they didn't, he somehow managed to talk them into it anyway. As a result, Alec was in charge of supplies, among other things. He was just better at it than she was. He was easier to get along with, was a smoother talker, and he drove a hard bargain. She needed him for business to run smoothly.

The problem was that it wasn't just business anymore. The realization had been slowly creeping up on her, try as she might to ignore it, but she couldn't ignore it, not now that Alec was in trouble.

Two days ago, Alec and his team had been cut off while out on a supply run. She hadn't been able to breathe until they'd finally managed to radio that they were having to hole up for a bit before they could risk going back out. Alec had been all military efficiency on the radio and she'd wanted to reach through the equipment and strangle him for scaring her so badly.

That was two days ago. For two days she'd been on edge, prowling around command until everyone was avoiding even making eye contact, let alone getting in her path. She'd felt incomplete, indecisive without him at her side to discuss things, a feeling she was really unaccustomed to.

"Max, maybe you should sit down," Logan said.

"What?" She was pacing behind her desk, half-listening as Logan went over the conversation he'd had with the city council members about setting up another meet.

Logan sighed. "Max, please. I'm getting a crick in my neck from trying to talk to you."

"Sorry." Max grimaced. "What were you saying?" She sat down in her chair, unable to stop when she immediately started bouncing her leg up and down. She just couldn't sit still. Alec had asked for radio silence and they hadn't heard anything in two whole freaking days.

"Are you all right?" he asked carefully.

"I'm fine," she answered tightly.

"You and Alec are… ok?" He shifted awkwardly in his chair, still uncomfortable with the idea of Alec being her boyfriend.

"We're fine," Max said automatically. After a couple of unfortunate incidents, Alec had been willing to maintain the pretense of a relationship to keep Logan at bay. Max got the feeling Alec enjoyed it a little too much. Whenever she slipped up, he got to hold it over her for a day or two. As a bonus he got to glare at Logan again and reassert his status as the Alpha male. They were pretty helpless and locked in these days, and Alec, no doubt appreciated the opportunity for a little control. Plus he just liked jerking Logan's chain. Always had.

"Where is good old Alec, anyway?" Logan asked, looking like he'd just swallowed something particularly foul tasting.

"His team got in some trouble. They couldn't get back right away," Max said, unable to stop the frown that appeared. She got back to her feet and started pacing again. "What were you saying?"

"I'll deal with the council members," he said with a sigh, giving up on keeping her attention with that conversation, for which Max was grateful. "White's been seen here and here." He pointed to a couple of places on the map spread across Max's desk. "I'm not sure what he's after, but I'm watching him. As soon as I have an idea, I'll let you know."

"And you couldn't tell me this on the phone?" Max asked. Her own people had already told her about the White sightings. They were far more motivated to keep tabs on the guy than Logan was. "You know it's dangerous for you to be here."

Logan sat back, his expression wounded. "I just haven't had a chance to see you much lately. I thought maybe…"

The door to the office flew open and Mole stuck his head inside. "They're coming in. They've got one wounded."

Max was around the desk and out the door before Logan had even started to get up. She hurried to stand beside the others who were gathered around the radio equipment and video monitors. "Who's hurt?"

"Don't know," Mole said, his cigar chewing more pronounced than usual. He'd been almost as uptight as her for the past two days. Alec was the one who kept him in cigars, after all. No Alec, no more Cubans.

"No video?"

"They're already past the checkpoint," Dix answered.

"How long?"

"Any time now. They were headed for medical first."

Max nodded and began to tap her foot impatiently. She felt more than saw Logan come out of the office to stand with them. She was attuned to his physical presence, if for no other reason than if she ran into him she'd kill him. It was a great motivator to know where he was at all times.

Giving up on the radio, Max moved down the steps to the ground floor where a large group was now gathered waiting to see what was going on. The team had been gone for too long and more than Max had been worried. They made space for her, the same vibes she'd been giving off for the past two days once again making sure that she had room to pace. If Alec was hurt, she was going to kill him.

Finally, Max heard a flurry of movement and she turned to look. Like a wave the people in front of her parted and Alec appeared in the doorway. He was dirty and exhausted, but he looked whole. She saw him glance up and notice that Logan was standing on the platform above. Alec smirked, a bare twitch of his lips, and strode toward her. He wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her tight against him. With his free hand, he threaded his fingers through her hair, pushing it back so that he could place a kiss on her cheek.

When Alec drew back, he didn't bother to look up. They both knew Logan was still watching.

"You'd better do more than that, pretty boy," Mole grunted. "She's been biting people's heads off since you went radio silent. We'd all appreciate it if you'd… loosen her up."

Max shot Mole a look that promised long hours of sentry duty. Alec's smirk, however, turned into a full grin.

"Been worrying about me?" he asked casually, amusement and something else she couldn't quite place dancing in his eyes.

"You wanna explain what happened out there?" Max snapped rather than answer. "We needed those supplies two days _before_ you went on that run."

Alec's grin faded and he scratched a hand through his hair, stepping back from her and sighing. "The sector police nearly had us. We managed to get away and then of all things they set up their temporary command post on the ground floor of the building we were hiding in. We had to wait for them to clear out before we could run."

"Who's hurt?"

"Blink caught a stray round. He should be all right in a few," Alec answered.

"And the supplies?"

"Had to leave them." Alec pulled his phone from his pocket. "And before you yell at me, I already made a couple of calls. Someone who owes me a favor is gonna bring the stuff to the tunnel entrances on the south side. I'll get a team to meet him there and bring it all in."

Alec moved away, already speaking into his phone. Max noticed he was limping and wondered what else he wasn't telling her.

Logan appeared at her side and Max felt a hint of irritation, though she quickly did her best to tamp it down. Logan was a good man and he was doing his best to help them. She couldn't deny she still had feelings for him either. The physical distance still remained, however, and the longer it went on the more aware she was of their other differences. Eyes Only was still fighting injustice in all its shapes and forms. She and Alec were fighting just to stay alive. She didn't have time for philosophy or worrying about lost love when there were babies who needed formula and supply teams pinned down by the sector police.

"I'll let you know if there's another White sighting," Logan said, sensing her withdrawal.

"Thanks. He's up to something. We just have to figure out what it is before he springs it on us."

"Before who springs what?" Alec asked as he walked back to them.

He wrapped his arm around Max's waist. She had a tiny moment of hesitation at him touching her while Logan was looking on, then she leaned into Alec, fitting him naturally as if they were made for each other. Max had been more worried than she wanted to admit and now Alec was standing beside her, safe and mostly sound. She felt like she'd been holding her breath for too long, felt a little light-headed with relief, but Alec's arm around her was an anchor, reminding her that everything was all right now. Except it wasn't all right. Not really. As much as she might like Alec's warm, protective arm around her to be something more, it was just an act for Logan's benefit and for those watching them.

Standing between the two men in her life, Max had never felt so alone.

How had it come to this?

* * *

_Just a teaser… More soon…_


	2. Chapter 2

**A Little Birdie Told Me**

Summary: Supply runs keep going wrong and Max needs to figure out why… MA.

_WOW. Thanks for the reviews. I… I'm nearly speechless. Not completely since then you wouldn't get a new chapter, but nearly. You guys are the _best_._

_The next couple of chapters are going to answer Max's question, so we're gonna take a little trip to the past… right after the infamous hand-holding fiasco._

Chapter Two

* * *

Standing between the two men in her life, Max had never felt so alone.

How had it come to this?

* * *

"Alec, I need your help."

Alec looked up from the map he'd been studying. When he saw her, he sat back in his chair, relaxing and throwing his pen down on the desk. "Don't tell me. Josh has been marking his territory again and you want me to talk to him."

"No," Max said, not even capable of joking she was so uncomfortable.

"You killed Mole and need help stashing the body? Not that I'd blame you."

She shook her head, shifting uneasily and remaining in the doorway.

"Max," a wicked grin spread across his face, "are you _blushing_?"

Max knew her face was bright red. "Forget it." She turned around to make a quick retreat only to find the exit blocked. Alec had blurred across the room and was now leaning against the doorjamb.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Nothing," she snapped, her face still burning. "Get out of my way."

"If it's this embarrassing," Alec said as if thinking it through, "then… you're in heat and you want me to save you from yourself."

"No!" Max almost shouted.

"You don't want me to save you from yourself?" Alec asked wide-eyed. "Well, then I guess I can take one for the team." He reached for the hem of his shirt like he was going to take it off. "Can we make this quick? I've got a supply run to plan."

Max hit him in the stomach, far from a love tap. "I'm not in heat," she said through clenched teeth.

Alec sucked in a breath and rubbed at his stomach. "Gee, Max. With encouragement like that, how can a guy not help?"

"You gonna get out of my way or not?"

Alec sighed and shook his head as if he'd given up hope of life being anything but a burden. "Since you're embarrassed, violent, and just generally bitchy, that leaves only one conclusion."

"And that is?" Max asked, warning in her tone.

"Logan."

Max immediately felt her anger deflate. "Yeah."

Alec walked around her and sat back down at the desk. "I just assumed you two were buddy-buddy again. What with the hand holding and the tag team act you had going during the Jam Pony thing. Not to mention he's posted naked pictures of you online."

Max's jaw dropped open. "_What_?"

"Your runes, Max." Alec smiled innocently. "Logan said it was for academic purposes to show some professor guy. I'd have doubted it since you were naked and all, but Mr. Latex's fingers are in half the shots and it kind of ruined the buzz."

"I was not naked!" Max shouted.

"Coulda fooled me," Alec shot back still grinning.

"This is useless." Max once again turned to storm out.

"What do you want me to do, Max?" His clipped, business-like tone stopped her.

Max closed her eyes and ordered herself to calm down. She was letting him goad her into giving up on something that _had_ to be done. She turned around slowly and sat down in the chair opposite Alec, trying to gather her thoughts. "I made a mistake and I need to fix it," she finally said. "I got so caught up in everything and now Logan thinks were all good and… I just can't…"

"Man up and tell him to go away?" he asked. "Pardon the phrase."

"He's already talking like we're back together."

"Except you never were together."

Max ignored the snide comment. "It's even more dangerous now. The virus is still here, plus this whole sector is toxic."

Alec just looked at her, a vague expression of distaste on his face. "And you want me to play boyfriend."

Max shifted uncomfortably. "Just for a while. 'Til he moves on."

"You know for someone who has an opinion about everything and doesn't mind kicking everyone's ass to get the point across, this seems kinda…"

"Stupid?"

His mouth quirked up on one side. "Passive."

"Look, if you-"

"I'll do it."

Max just sat there stunned for a second. "You will?"

"Yeah."

"Why?" she asked, suddenly suspicious.

"Cause we need your A game and Logan being here is distracting you. Cause I had to break up a fight today over who got the apartment next to yours, since the guys are thinking you're not definitely attached to anybody. If you're called for by someone who can kick their ass," he smiled with just a trace of arrogance, "then that will stop. And three," his smiled broadened, "because I need an apartment."

"What?" Max could feel herself scowling.

Alec sighed, his amusement fading so fast Max realized it was just a show. "This was a business sector, not a lot of viable residential space. Boxer and I have spent the last two days trying to get everyone housed."

Max blinked. She hadn't realized. She'd spent the last couple of days in negotiations with the city not to just kill them all. Alec had been handling the practicalities. He'd simply told her where her new apartment was and she'd gone there. "You found places for everyone?"

"Almost." Alec ran his hand over his face tiredly. "There are a few of us with some seriously specialized requirements. We've also still got some people bunking together who don't like each other much, but we're military. We're used to that."

"We're not military," Max said sternly.

Alec rolled his eyes. "We are what we are, Max. The rest of us have spent our whole lives being military. It's not gonna go away overnight just because you want it to."

"Where have you been sleeping?"

Alec used his pen to point to the sofa across the room. "It's better than bunking with Mole, which was my other choice. No one else would take him." He looked back toward her. "So I'll help you with your little Logan problem and you can help me with mine. It'll help with yours anyway if Logan thinks we're living together."

Alec was being far too practical. He was also looking far too serious and he hadn't made any indecent remarks yet about moving in with her. She eyed him skeptically. "Why are you really agreeing to this?"

Alec grinned again. "Can't a guy help a friend out?"

"I'm not your friend."

"A friend in need," he talked over her, "who has to keep her virus-riddled self away from her-"

"_Why_, Alec?" Max snapped. "I thought you were Mr. I'd-never-steal-another-guy's-girl."

"Let's just say you're not the only one needing a little protection. I had an X-series female waiting for me here when I got back this afternoon." He raised one eyebrow. "I'm a hunter. I don't like being the prey."

It was Max's turn to smirk. "I'm sure she was a unique creature unlike any other."

"Very unique. And she would have dragged me back to her unique cave and kept me there until she was pregnant," Alec said seriously. "Some of us have DNA that's even more screwed up than others. Manticore had to keep the leash a little tighter on some of us."

Max scowled. Ew. Manticore strikes again. "What did you do with her?"

"I knocked her out and handcuffed her until I found her a roomie with tastes more to her liking," Alec said simply. "She's good now."

And once again. Ew. But that's what Alec did. He found out what everyone needed and supplied it. In this case, it had saved his ass as well, so everyone was happy.

"So do we have a deal?" he asked.

Max took a deep steadying breath. "Deal."

* * *

Max had definitely thought better of it by the time they got back to her apartment. She'd spent a couple of hours earlier that evening cleaning it up. Logan had shown up to help her, decked out in his latex gloves. It had taken about five whole minutes for Max to remember why she and Logan being together was such a dangerous idea. She'd been laughing and he'd been about to take her hand when she'd noticed the gloves had a rip and pulled away just in time. Max had made a quick exit, saying she needed to go check up on Alec. Logan had looked crestfallen and she knew he'd wanted to ask, but was too afraid.

Now, as she opened the door, Alec only a step behind her with his duffel bag in hand, she decided she was an idiot. She was barely able to stand working with him most of the time, let alone living with him. Not to mention who knew what he might try.

Alec walked through the door, dropped his bag on the sofa and, without even looking around, headed straight for the kitchen. He stopped at the sink, turned on the tap and splashed some water on his face.

"You wanna tell me how you know your way around my apartment already?" Max frowned.

"I picked it out for you," Alec said over his shoulder.

"Don't do me any favors," Max said, continuing to frown.

"I wasn't. I was doing myself a favor." Alec walked back toward her. "I knew you were gonna freak out again over Logan and ask for my help. I was picking out a nice place for me, too."

"You…" Max sputtered, too furious to know what to say.

"Max, you may be the savior of all human-kind, but when it comes to Logan you're as predictable as… well, as Logan. Has anyone ever told you guys you should really get a new act? This one's getting kind of stale."

Max pulled back to hit him and Alec grabbed her fist before she could land the punch. "Like I said… predictable. Now if you'll excuse me, some of us need some sleep," he said and headed for the bedroom.

"Where do you think you're going?" Max demanded, following in his wake.

"Bed. It's rectangular and holds a soft cushy thing called a mattress. It helps with my lower back problems."

"I'll show you lower back problems."

Alec side-stepped out of her range and turned on her, for the first time anger showing through his pleasant mask. "Max, I'm tired. If you're afraid I'm going to jump you, then get over it. Some of us can keep our hands to ourselves. If you're afraid _you_ can't…" he smirked, "then at least let me get some sleep first or it won't be nearly as spectacular as you're hoping for."

Alec had pulled his shirt off while he was talking and Max was about to rip him a new one when the words died on her lips. She'd forgotten about the bullet wound. The bandage was red and Alec swore quietly when he saw where she was looking.

"I guess climbing over rubble all day wasn't the best thing for it," he said off-handedly. He left the room again, rummaged in his bag for a second and then disappeared into the bathroom.

Max just stood in the middle of the bedroom, wondering if she should offer to help. She'd just about decided to when the door opened and Alec reappeared. The bandage was fresh, but he was pale and looking strained.

"You can take the bed," she said. "I'll take the couch."

Alec just shook his head. "Not good enough."

"Look-"

"Max, if this is gonna work, you're gonna have to smell like me and vice versa or every transgenic here will be able to tell we're lying. I'll be right back to breaking up fights over you and it'll eventually get back to Logan."

Max scowled, knowing it was true. "Manticore can screw up anything, can't it?"

"It's what they do." Alec sighed. "You wanna pick a side?"

"What?"

"Of the bed."

"I…" She was so angry and frustrated she didn't know what to do or think. Finally she pointed to the side closest to her.

"After you," he said. "I don't want you saying I'm taking up your space or anything."

Max promptly decided she was sleeping in her clothes. She kicked off her shoes and lay down on top of the covers, trying to hide how tense she was. He looked too tired to try anything at least.

Alec rolled his eyes. "Don't flatter yourself." He unselfconsciously pulled off his jeans, leaving him in just his boxers, and sat down on the other side of the bed. He began to lie down and was quickly reminded that facing away from her would mean lying on his injured shoulder. With a sigh of resignation he turned and lay on his other side, facing her, although under the covers.

She refused to look at him, though she could feel his breath brushing over the skin on her arm. Alec _had_ to pick an apartment with the world's smallest double bed.

"Are you mad because you had to ask for my help or are you mad because I don't think you're irresistible?" he asked.

"I'm not mad," she said through clenched teeth.

"Sure." She could hear the smile in his voice and wanted to smack it off his face. That would require touching him though. "Go to sleep, Max," he said, yawning. "You can hit me tomorrow."

Only a few seconds later, his breathing had evened out in sleep. Max turned to watch him and immediately felt guilty again. He looked as exhausted as she felt.

Alec had been working as hard as she had the past few weeks. At some point, he'd stopped being the jerk just looking for girls and money and she'd seen the soldier underneath appear, the serious guy who was dedicated to helping her and the other transgenics.

Alec's name had been the first thing to come to mind when things had gone south with Logan. It had just happened. She'd been in trouble and he'd been the answer. Maybe it was the Berrisford thing, or seeing him with Josh after Annie's death, or any of the other times where Alec had simply stepped in to help, but whatever it was, at some point he'd stopped being the screw-up, pain in her ass she thought she knew.

Max had to face it. Logan was Mr. Research and he was great with getting illegal paperwork, but when the crap hit the fan and she needed backup, Alec was first on a short list of who she could call.

Which was really unsettling since he was lying next to her. He was being helpful and useful. Reliable. And likeable.

"Max," Alec grumbled. "You're thinking so much, you're breathing hard."

"You're supposed to be sleeping," she shot back.

"Kinda difficult when your nose is so loud."

"My nose is _not_-"

Before she knew what was happening, he'd grabbed her and pulled her toward him, nose to nose. "Max," he said straightly, "I'm _tired_. If I promise to attack you tomorrow night will you _please_ let me go to sleep?"

"Sure," she said, hardly able to breathe.

"Great." He let her go and she immediately hit him. Alec hissed like a startled cat and Max realized she'd hit his injured shoulder. "Thanks," he said through gritted teeth, rolling away from her onto his back. "That was just what I needed to make my day perfect."

"Sorry," Max mumbled guiltily.

In one smooth movement, Alec threw back the covers and stood. He picked up the shirt he'd discarded and walked around to her side of the bed. "Take your shirt off," he ordered, and she could hear the irritation in his voice.

Max stood too, anger easily rekindling. "You wish."

Alec thrust his shirt at her. "Take it off and put this on. It'll take care of the scent problem." Without another word he snatched up the over-sized jacket she'd been wearing earlier and stalked into the other room.

She listened as he stretched out on the sofa, grunting slightly as he got settled. Max tip-toed to the door and peeked out to see that he'd used her jacket to cover himself from shoulder to waist. Alec looked cold, however, with his legs uncovered and it made her feel even worse. Alec, of all people, was the one being the adult about this situation. She'd asked him to do this and she was the one being a brat.

"Alec, I'm sorry," Max said, unable to keep the frustrated tone from her voice. "You can… come back to bed."

Alec just sniffed and burrowed more deeply under her jacket.

"You're gonna freeze."

"Like you care," he said petulantly.

"Alec, I… I want you to come back to bed."

He rose from the sofa, dropped her jacket onto it and walked back toward her. "There. Now was that so difficult?" he asked as he brushed past her.

Max watched him slip back into bed, all lithe, graceful muscle, and pull the covers back up over himself.

Difficult? She groaned inwardly. This was a nightmare.

* * *

_More soon…_


	3. Chapter 3

**A Little Birdie Told Me**

Summary: Supply runs keep going wrong and Max needs to figure out why… MA.

_Pardon the lateness. Darn boss keeps calling me in for overtime. _

Chapter Three

* * *

Max was leaning over the map on her desk. Logan was standing beside her in long sleeves and gloves in case of any accidental touching. They'd been standing over it for some time discussing the blueprints of a building and maps of the surrounding area where Logan had a report of several transgenics holed up.

Max knew the exact second that Alec walked into the office. She had left him still sleeping to come to Command, but she'd purposely worn one of Alec's t-shirts to ensure that everyone with a sensitive nose would get the message. She'd actually had to work not to laugh at the change on people's faces when they recognized the scent. Some were shocked or surprised, some jealous, and a couple of females had looked ready to start a fight, but a glare had backed them down. Quite a few, however, hadn't looked surprised at all. Mole had simply grunted, "About time you told the Ordinary to take a hike."

The problem with that, of course, was that the Ordinary in question had yet to be told about his change in status. Logan had shown up, and other than the few who were absolutely necessary, everyone else had cleared out in record time to avoid what was no doubt coming. Max had no clue what to say, so she'd said nothing, just concentrated on the information about the transgenics that Logan had brought.

Alec walked around the desk to stand on her other side. She jumped slightly when she felt him put his hand at the small of her back. Logan must have noticed, because he turned slightly, then froze at the sight before him. Alec simply kept his eyes glued to the blueprints and began to run his hand up and down her back in a soothing, repetitive motion.

Although one half of her brain wanted to elbow him away and tell him to keep his paws to himself, the other half of her brain thought it felt too wonderful for words. She'd been leaning over the desk all morning staring at maps and plans, but beyond that it had been so long since anyone had touched her, anything other than a kick or a punch anyway. Before she even knew it, she'd sighed in contentment and her eyes had fluttered closed.

They opened again when Logan coughed uneasily. In answer, Alec leaned closer to her side, continuing to let his hand roam up and down her back. "What are we looking at?" he asked, seemingly unaware of any tension in the room.

"We…," Max had to clear her throat, "we have to figure out a way into this building. Logan thinks there are about five or so transgenics hiding there."

"Looks easy enough." He frowned down at the papers, concentrating enough that he quit trying to impress Logan. He let her go and leaned over the table. "What's the problem?"

"The sector cops know there's something up and have flooded the area. They've set up a new checkpoint within sight of the building."

Alec nodded. He pushed the blueprints out of the way and began studying the various maps underneath. "You were looking at coming in through here?" he asked, pointing to a place on the map, that was, in fact, the very place she'd been considering. It had taken Alec all of a minute to assess what she and Logan had been talking over for longer than she wanted to admit. Alec was the one with ten more years of training, however, so she tried not to let it rankle.

"Yeah."

"Ok," he said thoughtfully. "Stork was telling me…" He frowned and picked up the map. "I'll be back in a second. Let me ask her a question."

Almost as soon as he was gone, Logan turned toward her. "What was that?"

"What was what?" she replied innocently, squelching the guilt. This was for his own good. It was for her good, too. She was a lethal weapon, very literally in this case and they could never touch. He _had_ to believe she'd moved on or he never would. He'd keep trying to convince her that they had a future.

"You know what I mean, Max."

"No, I don't. So why don't you spell it out for me." She didn't have to feign the hint of irritation. No one owned her. Not Manticore, not Alec, and not Logan.

"Alec… and you…" He seemed at a loss for words.

"You've known about me and Alec for a while now."

"But I thought we were past that. After the Jam Pony incident…" He grabbed her hand and Max gasped.

"Stork says she saw…" Alec came back in just in time to see Max pull away from Logan, ripping her hand out of his.

"Everything ok in here, Max? Nobody dropping dead or anything?" Alec asked carefully.

Max shook her head, feeling oddly embarrassed at being caught with Logan holding her hand. Alec wasn't her real boyfriend after all. There was no reason for her to feel like she'd been caught in the act.

His movements sharp and efficient, Alec closed the door, though it would do little good to shield them from the few people left in command. They would hear everything, but it was the thought that counted.

Alec shot her a very quick look that she interpreted as, _You're not going to like this, but it's necessary_. Max gave the barest of nods. She hadn't been able to make herself say anything to Logan all morning, perhaps subconsciously knowing that Alec's appearance would be the needed catalyst. If Alec was willing to do the dirty work, then she would let him. She wasn't sure her heart could handle anymore heartbreak where Logan was concerned.

"Logan," Alec said casually, his stance relaxed, "I've been really patient and as we all know that's really not my strong point."

"Stay out of this, Alec," the other man ordered. "This is between me and Max."

"You and Max have all kinds of issues… virus, unrequited or pent up… whatever it is you two have…" Alec shook his head as if baffled.

"Max and I-"

"Are over," Alec cut him off and Max frowned at the quiet fury in his voice. Alec still looked relaxed, but the menace was clear in his tone. He wasn't looking at her though. All of his attention was for Logan. For a second, Max saw the man that Manticore had sent on missions. She saw an assassin, and Max instinctively wanted to pull Logan away. But just like at Manticore, Alec was playing a role. He was doing it because she'd asked him to. He was just scary good at it was all. At least that's what she hoped.

"Don't you think you're going a little far with this act?" Logan asked. He turned toward her. "Max, I know how things have been going the last few days between the two of us. If you got scared…"

It was too close to the truth for comfort and Max turned away, shifting uncomfortably. Logan's expression was horrified and lost, broken, and she'd put that look on his face. To move this along, however, she was going to have to actually crush him and send him on his way. Unfortunately, doing that in theory and actually watching it happen were two very different things. Maybe this wasn't really necessary, she thought feebly. She could still call this off, just make Logan keep his distance.

Alec cleared his throat to get their attention. He shot Max a quick glance and she knew he saw her weakening. Alec just shook his head and stood up straighter, focusing on his supposed rival.

"Logan, Max doesn't want this to be ugly. That's why I've been patient. But I'm tired of not being able to give my own girlfriend the hickey to end all hickeys." He grinned, a full Cheshire Cat grin, if the Cheshire Cat were evil and prepared to beat the crap out of you. "So let me just make myself clear." Alec opened the door wide. "If I catch you touching her again, I'll make sure you can never use those hands to type. Ever. Again."

"Max," Logan pleaded, looking to her to fix it.

Max felt like she'd been punched in the gut. Alec had proven himself willing to be the heavy, but she was going to have to confirm it, no matter how much she hated doing it. She couldn't waver again. This _had_ to be done. It had to be done for both their sakes. "Logan, maybe you should leave," Max managed to force out past her constricted throat.

"Maybe I should," he said, anger and sadness mixing in his expression. He cast her one last glance and then walked out the door, giving Alec a wide berth as he passed him.

Once again, Alec very carefully closed the door. This time he leaned against it, watching her warily. "You ok?"

"Great," Max said tightly.

"We can talk later," he said, nodding over his shoulder toward the others in Command who were no doubt listening avidly to the goings-on. She nodded and he sighed, releasing some of the tension built up in the last few minutes. Alec moved away from the door and walked toward the desk, setting the map down he'd still been holding. "Right," he said. "Transgenics holed up. Stork says she saw something here that might help." He pointed to a place on the map and she came to stand beside him.

Max ordered herself to focus, forget the general misery of her life and concentrate on the job. She could do that. But when Alec put his hand on her back, casually soothing her jangled nerves as they looked over the plans, she couldn't seem to push him away.

* * *

_The obligatory Get-Rid-of-Logan scene. It had to be done, so just bear with me. More soon…_


	4. Chapter 4

**A Little Birdie Told Me**

Summary: Supply runs keep going wrong and Max needs to figure out why… MA.

_You guys are wonderful. Thank you so much for the reviews. To those of you I told that the next chapter would be posted in "just a minute," I am very sorry. The site decided not to let me log in last night about halfway through answering reviews. So without ado…_

Chapter Four

* * *

Max was lying in bed unable to sleep when she heard the front door open. Her restlessness was completely due to her shark DNA and had absolutely, positively nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that Alec hadn't been back yet from a supply run when she'd left Command. After all, he was out at least twice a day on runs with various teams. To stay under the radar, they could only take so much from one place which meant they had to make more and more runs as the transgenic population rose.

Max listened as the front door closed and Alec walked in. She heard the faucet in the kitchen and assumed Alec was getting a drink. He then walked into the bathroom and she heard that door click closed behind him only a second or so before the shower came on.

It was all so… domestic.

Alec had been sleeping beside her for a week now and, apart from a few expected smart remarks, hadn't so much as leered in her direction. He went to bed and he slept. No accidental copping a feel, no hints or insinuations, not even a "Hey, I'm not getting any because of you." In contrast, the moment they left the apartment he was beside her. He snarled at any male that came too close to her and always made a special effort whenever Logan was within earshot.

It hadn't been until the second day that she'd realized what was going on. Alec was treating it like an Op. He was undercover and the mask he was wearing didn't so much as twitch until he walked back into the apartment. Not that she should be surprised. It had taken something as traumatic as Berrisford and his daughter to jostle Alec out of his "I'm always all right."

Ass-backward as it was, it was really starting to tick her off. Everything was just… off, because she knew Alec wasn't being Alec. She caught herself wanting to go back to the apartment just so Alec would stop the charade, yet his attention when they were out was difficult to give up, fake though it might be. She couldn't deny that Alec was a good-looking guy who was paying her attention. It was flattering in a not-real kind of way. But in a real way, it was human contact. She felt like nerve endings that she'd forgotten even existed had suddenly come painfully back to life.

She'd had no idea how starved she was for someone to just touch her. She'd longed to be near Logan and had gone without for so long that now that Alec was offering it freely she couldn't help but soak it up. He touched her whenever he was near her. He brushed her shoulder with his when they stood side by side, kept his hand at her back when they were walking, used any excuse to leave a feather-light touch tingling across her skin, traitorous skin that was begging for more, far more than the gentle, publicly acceptable caresses.

Truth be told, she was getting seriously on edge and irritated with the whole situation.

Max heard the shower turn off and waited for Alec to appear in the doorway. She'd noticed earlier that he'd left a fresh set of clothes in the bathroom so he wouldn't have to bother her if he came in late. Alec's military orderliness and pre-planning about the way he behaved toward her, even in their apartment, was yet another reminder of how deeply ingrained Alec's training was.

After the last few days, she knew he would walk around to the other side of the bed, lie down and be asleep within minutes. She tried not to take it personally that he couldn't seem to care whether she was there or not. He might drop the touchy-feely, overly nice part of the act once they were back at the apartment, but to him this was still just an Op. She was a member of the team who just so happened to be sleeping in the same bed.

It was still puzzling her though. She imagined Mr. "Take off your shirt, I'm your breeding partner" hadn't had any trouble mixing business with pleasure when he'd been at Manticore. He certainly hadn't had any trouble since leaving it. As far as she could tell, when they'd been at Jam Pony he'd indiscriminately chased anything in a skirt, co-worker or not.

Alec had never struck her as someone to respect her boundaries either. He'd struck her as the use-any-pathetic-excuse-he-could-to-piss-her-off type, sexual harassment included, though now that she thought of it he'd never made a real play for her. Alec probably knew, even in his pea-sized brain, it was never going to happen. Which was why for the past week, he'd just come in and gone to sleep. The jerk.

Except Alec still hadn't come out of the bathroom yet. Max tried to calculate how long it had been since she'd heard the shower turn off when she finally heard the door open. His footsteps padded back into the main room and she heard the springs of the sofa as he sat. Maybe he was going to sleep there, not wanting to wake her? She doubted it. Alec just wasn't that generous. Then she caught a faint scent that hadn't been there before. Blood. She knew that coppery, metallic smell anywhere and she was out of the bed before she'd even realized her intention.

"Alec?"

His head snapped up at the sound of her voice and he hissed at the slight movement it caused to the rest of his body. He was shirtless and she could see that the wound to his shoulder was well on the way to being healed. That wasn't the problem. It was another bullet wound from the look of it, a slice across his ribs on his left side that he was trying to sew closed himself. He was pale as a ghost, but he seemed very clearheaded when he scowled at her. "I know, I know," he grumbled. "Been there, done that."

Max remembered her words from when he'd been shot at Jam Pony and frowned. Maybe that had been harsh, but she hadn't had time then and he'd already had someone looking after him. That wasn't the case now, however.

"Go back to bed, Max. I've got this," he said through gritted teeth. "Nothing I haven't done before."

"What happened?" she asked, mentally cursing at how accusatory she sounded.

Alec apparently didn't care for her tone either. He shot her a brief glare before he pursed his lips and concentrated on his stitching. "New Guy tripped at just the wrong time and gave away our position."

"What new guy?"

Alec looked up at her and grinned, a real, if strained, one and Max was happy to see it. "No. New Guy. He's the new guy on the team. Just recruited him yesterday."

She quirked an eyebrow. "That was the best name you could come up with?"

"Don't blame me," he said, amusement still coloring his tone. "You try coming up with a name for this many people off the top of your head. That's what we were calling him and he liked it."

"He ok?"

"Yeah," he said, once again looking back down. "Got him out of the way in time."

"Gettin' kinda careless, aren't you? For a guy who watches his own ass as much as you do, you keep getting yourself shot for other people."

"Tell me about it. I'm starting to think I _am_ defective."

"You're being human," she informed him flatly. "Welcome to the club."

Max crossed the room quickly and washed her hands in the kitchen sink then walked back and knelt in front of him. "Here, let me," she said.

He looked at her warily for a second and then relinquished the needle. "Thanks." Alec raised his arm over his head to give her room. Max had to rest an elbow on his thigh and set her hand against his chest to steady herself while she worked with her free hand. It was awkward being in such close proximity, but it couldn't be helped. Wounds won out over inconvenient personal issues.

Alec had already been halfway done and she did her best to hurry. She felt his muscles tighten beneath her fingers as the needle pricked his skin. She glanced up at his face, but he was keeping his eyes tightly closed.

"Shame we ran Logan off. Could have used a pair of gloves," he said tightly.

"Yeah, well, it had the side effect of keeping him not dead."

"Saves me having to stop Mole from killing him too, so just easier all the way around."

"No need for the gloves anyway." Max finished closing the wound and began washing it using the supplies Alec had brought from the bathroom. "I figure if the bio-toxins aren't gonna take us out, then a little bacteria should be a piece of cake."

They both fell silent as Max continued to work, putting on clean bandages. She also washed the blood from the hand that he'd been using to stitch himself up. His fingers were long and graceful, everything one would expect from Manticore. The nails were trimmed carefully, Alec once again showing his methodical way of doing things, despite his standard devil-may-care attitude.

They'd been sleeping in the same bed, but it might as well have been in different universes. Touching him like this was different. Even outside the apartment, it was always Alec who came to her. She supposed it was slightly easier on her conscience if she made Alec do the dirty work and she just allowed it to happen rather than initiating it herself. There was no one watching them now, though. This was just the two of them, alone in their apartment. It made it more intimate and more awkward all at the same time.

Alec's eyes were still closed and for just a second she allowed herself to simply look at him. Even as pale and strained-looking as he was, he was still handsome. She hadn't thought of it when she'd seen Ben, but Alec was just different on so many levels.

Too late, Max realized Alec had opened his eyes and was staring at her, once again wary. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing. All done here," she replied, pulling away from him and standing up.

"Sorry for bringing up Logan," he said, misinterpreting her expression. "You're doing the right thing."

"I know," Max agreed, through clenched teeth. "Now shut up and… go to bed or something. I'll clean this up."

"Because I sure wouldn't be sharing an apartment with the world's bitchiest nurse if it wasn't for a good cause," he added.

"Sorry to inconvenience you," Max snapped.

"Anything for a friend," he sighed, making her feel worse for his refusal to rise to the bait.

Rather than getting up and heading for the bed as she'd expected, Alec very gingerly scooted back on the sofa, seemingly exhausted. While she was watching, his eyes fluttered closed although he was still sitting up. Leave it to her to yell at a guy who'd spent the night being chased and shot.

Max went back into the bedroom and pulled off the coverlet. She took it with her and spread it over Alec who startled awake then relaxed as he realized what she was doing.

"Thanks," he murmured. Alec very cautiously rotated and then lay down flat on his back, hardly bothering to pull the coverlet up.

Max stood back uncertainly, watching him. He hadn't expected her to help him. He'd come in quietly trying not to bother her and done his best to take care of the wound himself. If Max hadn't come out to see what was wrong, she doubted he would have even told her what had happened and that troubled her.

Alec was the open one, the talky one. She was the reserved one who told him to suck it up. Maybe she'd told him that once too often, or maybe he never would have come to her in the first place. Maybe the open, talky thing was as much a show as anything else. Either way, it was disconcerting. Manticore had made an actor of him, a very, very good one as she'd seen the last few days. It bothered her that she didn't understand what was going on with him any better than she did. It bothered her that he still didn't think he could come to her with a problem, hadn't expected her to even _want_ to help.

"Go to bed, Max. I'm fine," he said as if sensing her hesitation.

Max could tell he wasn't. He was stretched out flat, but he didn't look comfortable. There were no pillows and the arms of the sofa were too high to be used.

Max tentatively moved forward. If she thought about it, she wouldn't follow through. She raised Alec's shoulders and slid onto the sofa so that he could rest his head in her lap.

"Max, what are you-"

"Shut up," she ordered. "I'm just making sure you don't die on me. We've got things to do tomorrow." She softened it, however, by running her hand through his still slightly damp hair. She pulled the coverlet up to his chin and draped her other arm across his chest. She knew from experience that his bruised ribs would appreciate the support and set her hand flat over his bandage, just a gentle bit of pressure. She continued to let her fingers brush though his hair, feeling it as his tense muscles relaxed and his head rested more heavily against her thigh.

"I take it back," Alec said sleepily. "You're the best nurse in the world."

"Stop talking and go to sleep," Max commanded.

"Fine. Bitchiest _and_ best," he mumbled.

Max didn't reply and his breathing evened out in sleep almost immediately. She looked down at him, his head in her lap, his face turned slightly toward her. Max brushed her fingers through his hair, although he was no longer awake to feel it.

She'd been lying awake worrying about him. The most social person she knew had come in wounded and had still kept her at a distance.

Max continued to study Alec, his dark-circled eyes closed and she suddenly wished he was awake to talk to her.

The world had turned upside down. And she was in so much trouble.

* * *

_This little chapter was for those of us who thought Alec getting shot deserved a wee bit more attention than _Freak Nation_ offered… More soon (site willing)…_


	5. Chapter 5

**A Little Birdie Told Me**

Summary: Supply runs keep going wrong and Max needs to figure out why… MA.

_Attending a Memorial Day service brought this chapter on. Max and Alec are soldiers in a sense and this is the result. Well, Memorial Day and a rewatching of_ the Berrisford Agenda_._

Chapter Five

* * *

Max had been listening to the men sitting across from her for what felt like hours and her head was starting to swim. Only a moron would make her the leader and send her to talk to politicians. Except she'd sort of appointed herself as the leader, which she guessed made her the moron.

Logan cast her a sympathetic glance before turning back to the city council members opposite. Despite the awkwardness, she'd decided Logan was her best bet for this job. He was better at talking to bigwigs and rich powerful types. Max was more the punch-and-make-threats-'til-she-got-what-she-wanted type. She'd have brought Alec, but the council members were more comfortable with a non-transgenic, so that's what they got.

Talks about allowing in supplies were tense at best, but necessary. The teams, Alec included, were running themselves ragged trying to keep everyone taken care of. As Alec had said, some of them had some pretty freaky requirements.

Max felt her phone vibrate against her hip. She frowned, but quickly pulled it from her pocket. Everyone knew where she was and had instructions not to call unless it was an emergency.

She flipped the phone open. "Max."

"Hello." Dix's voice seemed normal. "We were wondering when you'd be back?"

"Don't know," she answered. "Why?" The council members as well as Logan were glaring at her for taking the call during the meeting.

"No reason," Dix said casually. "Lamplighter is making a special dinner. We just needed to know if you were going to be back in time or not."

"Sure, I will," Max replied lightly. She closed the phone and got to her feet, trying not to look panicked. "Guys, I think I've had enough for one day."

Logan was watching her worriedly, realizing something was wrong, but Max glanced at the council members then back at him with the barest shake of her head. Not in front of the children.

"I'm sure Logan can continue answering any questions," she said, already heading for the door. They probably thought she was nuts, but she didn't have time to care.

Lamplighter.

The code word meant disaster had struck and she better get back fast. The people in Terminal City were keeping the home fires burning until she could return.

The meeting had been held in one of the buildings right outside the gates and under the watchful eyes of who knew how many policemen she quickly walked back to the gates and stepped inside.

"Your apartment building. Hurry," one of the guards urged quietly.

Max nodded to acknowledge that she'd heard and then walked in that direction, trying not to let the still watching policemen know there was a problem. Things had been relatively quiet as far as the regular authorities knew and the negotiations depended on it staying that way. As soon as she was out of their line of sight, however, she blurred toward the building.

The crowd outside drew her up short. Max spotted Mole and pushed her way toward him. "What's going on?" she demanded.

"Carpenter's dead and Alec's gone up to tell Pepper," he replied flatly.

"Crap."

"You got that right, princess."

Carpenter was one of the transgenics Alec used for supply runs. Max didn't know what had gone wrong, but tragic as his death might be, it wasn't the real problem. Carpenter had been married to Pepper. She was unstable to say the least and Alec was taking his life in his hands to be the one to tell her.

"Alec armed?"

"He's got a tranq gun with enough to bring down an elephant," Mole said with approval.

"Alec ask for me to come help?"

"Nope," Mole said. He was looking up at the building and Max was grateful he didn't see the disappointment on her face before she could hide it. "We thought you oughta be back inside the gates before the cops showed up to ask about what happened."

Max nodded. They'd just called to keep her from being carted off since she would be the only transgenic the cops would have access to. That didn't mean she was going to let Alec face down Pepper all by himself. "Which apartment?"

"Second floor, last on the left. But I expect you can follow all the yelling."

Max made her way upstairs, but there was no yelling to be heard. The building was eerily silent and she realized the crowd outside weren't gawkers. They'd been evacuated from their apartments. As Max approached, she saw that the last door on the left was standing open.

"You tell me what happened right now," she heard Pepper order coldly. "Tell me!"

Max peeked her head through the door to see Alec and Pepper standing in the middle of the room about ten feet apart. She had a gun aimed straight at his heart and Alec had his hands in the air, a fresh bruise forming on the left side of his face. The tranquilizer gun was across the room, where it looked like Pepper had thrown in.

"White happened," Alec said calmly. "The sector cops cornered us, but it looked like they had two of White's men with them."

"So what?" the woman snapped. "We've been running from them for months."

"So we thought we were behind cover and one of White's men was using rounds that would go through a concrete wall," Alec said grimly. "Carpenter was down before we knew what hit us."

There was a pause and Max tried to gauge whether she could take the woman down before she could fire. Max doubted it. Alec was closer, but then he was facing down the barrel of the gun.

Max saw Pepper stand up very straight, almost at attention. "In your opinion, this was an unavoidable casualty. Is that correct, 494?"

Max's eyes widened. She didn't know why it always surprised her that Alec knew many of the other transgenics from before, but it did. Alec had always been so comfortable with the outside world that she tended to think that he'd been free as long as she had. He hadn't really seemed like a Manticore drone even before he'd left.

"Affirmative," Alec answered. And then he started speaking in a language that sounded something like Russian to Max's ears, but clearly wasn't, something Slavic anyway. He took a couple of tentative steps forward as he was speaking, his tone halfway between cajoling and commanding. Pepper answered him in the same language and Max wished she could understand what was going on. She wouldn't be able to tell if it was going wrong if she couldn't tell what they were saying. It also made her wonder what else Alec could do that she didn't know about beyond playing the piano like an expert and speaking freaky Slavic languages fluently.

Alec said something else and Pepper's shoulders slumped, in an instant going from ramrod military posture to mourning widow. "He… he died well?" she choked out, in English this time and Max saw her beginning to shake.

"He was very brave," Alec assured her. There was nothing of the jovial, madcap Alec she was so familiar with in his expression and it pained Max to see it. This was an officer who had just lost one of his men. Having to inform the family just made it that much worse.

"We're never going to be free, are we?" the woman asked through her tears.

Max saw a shift in Alec's posture, a second of near panic in his expression, though she didn't understand why. Pepper seemed to be winding down, and the gun was pointed at the floor.

"We're working on it," Alec said, "but it's just like back home. You and me and all the rest of us, no matter what they do, we stick together so the bastards don't break us."

Pepper snorted and shook her head. "You didn't believe that even when we were back home." Max hated it when they called Manticore home. "None of us did. Nice in theory, but we all did what we had to do to stay alive. I let them…" The woman let out a barely stifled sob. "I never should have…"

Alec said something else in the other language and Pepper jerked like she'd been slapped. Max recognized Carpenter's name, but didn't know what the rest of it meant.

"Together is how we're going to stay alive," Alec said, swiftly changing back to English.

He glanced at her for a second and Max realized he had been aware she was there the whole time. She was afraid he'd purposely been using the other language to keep her at a distance and she felt a distinct pang that he felt the need to hide whatever it was from her.

"We're gonna stick together and we're gonna stay alive." Alec held out his hand toward Pepper. "Now, why don't you give me the gun?"

"They're going to pick us off one by one and you know it," she said flatly, adding another phrase in the other language.

Once again, Max saw that flash of panic in Alec's eyes and this time she realized why. "Pepper, don't," he ordered.

"You were always nice to me, even though you knew I was nuts," she said.

"Pepper, give me the gun," Alec pleaded. "Don't… don't do this."

Max wasn't fast enough and neither was Alec. Pepper had already fired before they were halfway to her. Alec caught her body as it fell and eased her to the floor. Manticore would have been proud. She'd made sure it was a shot that got the job done, quick and efficient.

Alec stood and let out a string of cursing the likes of which Max had rarely heard, only half of which was in English. The rest was in whatever the language was he'd been using to speak to Pepper. He paced back and forth, swearing like it was his last chance, until finally he fell silent, his eyes shut tightly, breathing hard like he'd run a race.

"I'll be upstairs," he said and stalked out of the room toward their apartment.

"Typical," Max muttered angrily. Leave her to clean up the mess, not that this was Alec's mess, but still.

She walked to the window and opened it to stick her head out. "I need a clean up crew," she called to the crowd below. She pulled her head back in, knowing they would follow orders. Sadly, this wasn't the first suicide. Pepper wasn't the only unstable transgenic. Manticore had made sure they all had enough issues to last a lifetime and some had endured more than their fragile psyches could bear. Some just weren't reacting well to life after Manticore, or to memories of what had happened at Manticore now that they'd seen life on the outside. The siege wasn't helping. They were like animals that had been freed and become feral. Being caged again wasn't sitting well.

Three transgenics appeared in the doorway and immediately saw what had happened. They moved toward their fallen comrade, their expressions stoic.

"The team brought Carpenter's body back?" She waited for one of them to nod. "Bury them together then."

The same guy nodded. "We'll take care of her and then we'll clean this place up so someone else can use it," he said. It was harsh, but Max knew they didn't have room for anything else right now. There was only so much space to go around and none of them had been raised to have any romantic notions about funerals. You buried people and you moved on, mourned them in your own way if you could.

Which brought her mind back to Alec. "You guys got this?" she asked, realizing she was about to ditch them, just like Alec had.

"Yeah," the same guy said. He'd already pulled a sheet from the bed and was using it to wrap her. Max knew it was Pepper's death shroud and she would be buried in it. Whoever the guy was, he must have known her too because she saw tears were falling silently as he knelt beside the dead woman and carefully, even respectfully, draped the cloth around her.

Max hurried from the room and jogged up the stairs toward their apartment. She opened the door and walked inside to see Alec standing by the window on the opposite side of the room. His posture was relaxed and he was leaning against the window frame, but the air was bristling with tension.

"Alec?"

"Yeah," he said, his voice steady, although he didn't turn to look at her.

"You wanna tell me what that was about?"

"Not really."

"Why don't you try anyway." It was an order, not a question.

Alec sighed deeply and scratched a hand at the back of his head, a nervous gesture she'd come to expect when he didn't want to answer a question. "Not now, Max."

"Now, Alec. You were speaking Russian or whatever."

"Croatian," he said distantly.

"Fine. Croatian. What for?"

"Because the only time I really had a chance to be around her was when she and Carpenter were on a team with me and we had to speak Croatian," Alec said, a touch of anger showing through the calm veneer at her refusal to leave him alone. "Feels weird to talk to her in English," he added more quietly. "She doesn't… didn't sound right."

"What were you talking about?"

"The bad old days," he replied evenly.

"Alec, talk to me," Max said, completely exasperated at his refusal to elaborate. He never had told her about what had really happened with Berrisford's daughter. She'd pieced some of it together, but there were still big chunks missing and she doubted he would ever enlighten her. There was so much he never shared with her and she suddenly found herself desperate to know. She wanted to grab him and force him to face her. As painful as it was to remember, that night at Crash after they'd delivered the package to Berrisford had been the real Alec talking, not the affable, smiling, devil-may-care guy that followed her from disaster to disaster simply because he was bored.

_You think life was tough when we were ten? Take it from me. Later on it got a whole lot worse. But you tried to forget…_

Alec couldn't forget the things that had happened anymore than she could. He just didn't talk about it. _I don't want your pity. I want your absence. _Even when the past came back to bite him, he kept it all inside if he could get away with it. She's let him brush her off with Berrisford, but not this time.

"Alec, please. I just watched Pepper kill herself and I want to know why."

Still he didn't say anything and Max was just about ready to march across the room and smack him out of his silence when he nodded as if coming to some sort of decision.

"She was right," he said dully. "We're never gonna be free from this."

"DNA's kind of a hard thing to get rid of. Pretty sure you'd prefer me without claws, but you're outta luck," Max said, trying for a bit of lightness and Alec gave a faint laugh, just a bare puff of air.

"When…" He cleared his throat uncertainly, still staring out the window. "When Manticore went down, it was like being let loose from the asylum. I could eat what I wanted. I could sleep when I wanted with whoever I wanted, drink what I wanted, go where I wanted. I just had to be smart enough to get it for myself. I just had to outthink them, outrun them and I knew I was good enough to do that. It was like suddenly being free after having my hands tied behind my back my whole life."

"We're still free. That's still true," Max said.

Alec shook his head. "Then White showed up, stuck a bomb in my head and I was right back where I was before. I was doing what Manticore told me, just so I could stay alive."

"Except you didn't do what they told you," she observed, but he was already talking over her.

"Then I'm trying to have a little fun with the guys and what do I find? A fish girl swimming right in the middle of the club. We fix it and I think, maybe this will be all right. Maybe I can help myself, help the rest of us a little bit and we can all make a break for it. We'll all be safe. Then Brain and…," he took a deeper breath and let it out slowly, "Rachel, and Annie, Biggs, Cece and on and on. We just keep getting backed farther and farther into a corner and now we're all hiding here just waiting for them to pick us off. We're as trapped here as we were at Manticore."

"Alec, we're going to fix this," Max said firmly. "The government is going to recognize us. We just have to give them some time to get used to the idea."

Alec snorted. "Patience, Max? From you? Now there's something new and different."

"Yeah, well, I've been having to put up with you in my space all the time. If that doesn't teach patience, I don't know what does."

"And here I thought it was all that time talking about wine with Logan." Alec smirked faintly.

"That too." Max wasn't sure what to say to the rest. She had spent most of her life running to keep from having to do Manticore's bidding. Alec and the others had spent their lives doing Manticore's bidding to keep from dying. "We're not trapped, Alec. We're making a stand. There's a difference."

"Tell that to Pepper. Her husband was killed because Manticore just refuses to die. Her child…" Alec turned his face away from her so she couldn't see it.

"She was pregnant?" Max asked horrified.

Alec shook his head. "Before."

"Before… when before?"

"She and Carpenter got together while we were away on that mission. When Manticore found out, they terminated the pregnancy. They didn't think the DNA mix was acceptable enough to make the child a useful asset."

Max thought back over Alec's conversation with Pepper and parts of it suddenly made more sense. "_I let them… I never should have…_" It also explained why Pepper had always been treated gently by many of the other transgenics, even though she was, as she'd said herself, nuts.

"She was never the same after that. She hid it pretty well and what she couldn't hide, the rest of us covered for as best we could." Alec turned to look at her and his expression was bleak. "I knew as soon as I saw Carpenter was down that she wouldn't be far behind. There's only so much that a person can take."

Max knew instinctively he wasn't just talking about Pepper. She could still see the look on his face with Berrisford's gun aimed at him point blank. Alec had a highly developed sense of self-preservation. She might even say overly developed. But he'd been willing to let Berrisford kill him. In that instant, he'd wanted him to do it. Max understood the weight of too many tragedies weighing on a person's soul. She'd lost so many people, people who'd died simply because they were near her at the wrong time or the wrong place.

Alec must have seen something of what she was thinking written on her face. He stepped away from the window and walked toward the sofa. He grasped her hand as he passed and pulled her along with him. He sat down and took her with him, throwing one arm across her shoulders. He pulled her close and Max allowed it, fitting herself to his side. Sitting together, lost in too many memories of catastrophe and failure, they were one and the same, yet separated and alone. Alec's arm around her was something though. It was warm and comforting, and she curled closer trying to offer him the same in return. They were both still alive and fighting. They were together in this at least.

"Max, tell me it's gonna be all right," Alec half-ordered, half-pleaded. She could feel his voice rumbling through his chest pressed against her ear.

"It's gonna be all right," she said with certainty, raising a hand and clasping a handful of his shirt over his heart. "We're always all right."

* * *

_Almost through with the flashbacks. Just bear with me. More soon…_


	6. Chapter 6

**A Little Birdie Told Me**

Summary: Supply runs keep going wrong and Max needs to figure out why… MA.

_Okey dokey… Max's runes… the show never really had a chance to put them to good use, so let's see what we can do about that._

Chapter Six

* * *

Max woke abruptly and remained very still trying to decide what had awakened her. She was facing the wall, her back to Alec as was her habit. Their arrangement had gone on long enough now that she didn't expect any trouble from him. That didn't mean she wasn't keenly aware that Alec was right there every time she moved or turned.

There had been a few embarrassing close calls, but Alec had brushed them off as easily as he brushed off everything else. He'd smiled, laughed at her embarrassment and then turned over and left her alone. Like many things about Alec lately, it made her want to shake him and tell him to be himself. She wasn't part of an Op. Logan was finally getting the message and she just wanted Alec to be… Alec. She almost wanted him to make a pass at her so she could smack him away, or even to look at her the way he had when they'd been trying to save the fish girl.

She could still remember the look he'd given her before he'd sent her into the club to pretend to be one of the dancers. She'd been angry and mortified at having to do it, but it was the first time she could remember that Alec had given her a good look that told her he thought she was more than a soldier, in that case at least he'd considered her a soldier with a nice rack.

Nowadays to keep up the act, Alec touched her constantly, but it was infuriatingly detached from his real personality. It looked real enough to anyone watching, Alec made sure of that, but she had no doubt it was carried out with calculating precision.

Max kept her breathing steady now as she took stock of the room and then she knew what it was that had brought her awake. She felt a feather-light touch brush across the line of her shoulder and had to fight the urge to shiver at the prickling sensation it left behind. Alec's fingers moving lightly over her skin had set her nerve endings tingling.

"Your runes," Alec said, his voice morning rough.

"What?"

"You have new runes on your back," he said softly.

This time his fingers trailed downward along the edge of the strap of her tank top. The sensation was beyond different to what she had felt at Logan's gloved hands moving over her back when he'd taken the pictures. The word that had come to her mind then had been "awkward." There wasn't really a word coming to her mind right now. She just couldn't think. His warm fingers had her heart speeding up and she knew she was breathing faster than she should be.

His fingers lifted away from her and then resettled at the base of her neck just below her bar code. They skimmed over her skin just to one side of her spine, moving downward in a line ending just above the edge of her shirt.

"They weren't there last night," he observed, his hand lifting away again. He swept her hair aside and then the tips of his fingers slid to her other shoulder, gliding across her skin and then down her back along the edge of her other strap.

Finally Max found her voice. "Don't worry about them. They're reruns."

Alec's relentless fingers skimmed across another line running down the center of her back, this time just on the other side of her spine, his touch tingling its way down, spreading warmth far beyond where his fingers were actually touching.

"You're sure?" he asked worriedly.

"Yup. Logan says they say the same thing over and over again." Alec's fingers abruptly left her at the mention of Logan's name and she mentally cursed at bringing him up just when Alec had been making some sort of move to cross the barrier their arrangement had set up between them. "They go away and then they'll come back." She gave a shrug of her shoulders. "Sandeman's way of making sure they get my attention, I guess."

"As if tattoos suddenly appearing on your body are easy to ignore," he said, amusement in his tone.

"You know those Manticore people. Subtlety really wasn't their thing." Max nearly gasped when she felt his fingers return. He slid the strap of her shirt very slightly to the side, she supposed so that he could see the line of runes better.

"Sure. Subtle," he agreed. "Delicate even."

Max had to bite her lip to keep from moaning. Alec had to know what he was doing to her. He _had_ to. Their bed was not a big one and even at the best of times, they were elbow to elbow. Now she could feel the warmth radiating from him behind her as he continued to run his fingers very gently over the runes.

Max closed her eyes, trying to come to a decision. If she did what she was thinking of doing, it would change everything. Alec would know she wanted more than the semi-polite working relationship they had going and there would be no taking it back. No more pining for Logan. No more hopes for the cure to miraculously appear and fix everything that had been wrong with her and Logan even before the virus happened.

When they were in public, she would look at Alec as he touched her and pretended to love her, and all she could think was how wrong it was. At some point, she'd stopped missing Logan so much and had started missing Alec. Because the Alec who was with her everyday wasn't _her_ Alec. She couldn't fix the virus, but she could do something about this.

She wanted the real Alec to be there helping her plan things. She wanted Alec to talk some sense into her, or commiserate with her, or at least help her blow off some steam when she was so angry she wanted to hit something. She wanted him to smooth the way when she'd ruffled the wrong feathers, all the while teasing her about her temper. The Alec who was with her everyday was so painfully close to the real Alec, but just… not.

She wanted Alec. She _wanted_ Alec.

Her decision made, Max took in a shuddering breath and turned over. She nearly lost her nerve when she saw how close Alec was, his curious eyes watching her, assessing this new change. He kept his eyes on hers, his expression very serious.

Max tossed her hair over her shoulder. "I have them here too," she said, looking down very slightly. Alec's gaze followed hers and she almost shivered as his eyes darkened in reaction. She knew from past experience that she had lines of runes running down either side of her chest, underneath where the straps of her tank top were sitting. They ran all the way to her waist, not that she had shown them to Logan. She had assured herself that they were repetitions of what was on her back and had chosen for Logan to see only those. That had been dangerous and awkward enough.

Unlike the runes across her back, there wasn't a set running down the center of her chest. To prove that Sandeman was not only a crazy scientist who thought preprogrammed runes would be cool, but also a dirty old man, Max had a line of runes that ran across her chest just above her breasts. While she hadn't been amused when they'd first appeared, at this moment she was very grateful for them.

Alec was looking at them, barely visible at the edge of her tank top. He watched almost hungrily as Max reached to her shoulder and pulled the strap down. Without the strap keeping it up, she very easily pulled down the shirt so that the runes were exposed and with them the top outline of her breasts. She saw Alec clench his fingers tightly to keep from reaching out.

"What do you think?" she asked coyly.

Alec's eyes snapped back up to hers, anger flaring. "I think this isn't funny if you're-"

She could see him visibly withdrawing from her, which was exactly the opposite of what she wanted. To silence him, she reached out and grabbed his hand. It stopped him in his tracks and the anger quickly faded to wariness and then back to curiosity. Max slowly drew his hand toward her. She almost smiled when she heard his breath hitch as he realized what she was about to do.

Max very purposely placed his hand over her breast, his thumb resting just over the line of runes. Alec squeezed gently and Max's eyes fluttered closed as his thumb brushed over the tattoos. It had been so long since anyone had touched her. She'd had those few moments with Logan before the Gossamer had forced her to leave. Before that, it had been heat induced and those frenzied minutes were almost violent in their frantic need for completion.

This, a man touching her because he wanted to and because she had made a conscious choice to allow it, was something entirely different. Alec's hand moved slightly and the delicious friction of his palm and the cloth of her shirt rubbing over her had her once again biting her lip.

"Alec." The word, almost pleading, slipped out automatically. Her hand was still resting over his and she pressed him to her, forcing him to hold her more tightly. She opened her eyes and saw Alec fighting to control himself, but that wasn't what she wanted right now. There was too much space between them, too many clothes. She wanted the real Alec with her, and at this moment she wanted it desperately. No more play-acting for anyone else's benefit.

Alec took his hand away and Max wanted to weep at the loss of it. He didn't draw back though. Instead he slid his hand to her back and in one smooth movement, pulled her to him, chest to chest, nose to nose.

"Max, I'm not Logan," he said as if it pained him to say the words.

"Who said I wanted you to be?"

The phone rang and Alec jumped guiltily. In an instant, he removed his hand from her back that had been pressing her close and then moved back to put space between them.

"Ignore it," Max ordered, frustrated beyond belief at the interruption.

Alec took a deep breath and then shook his head. "Can't." He shot her an almost accusatory glance. "You know that."

Max scowled. Yes, she did, but she didn't like being reminded of it just then.

Alec sat up and threw his legs over the side of the bed. His back was to her and she could see the tension in his shoulders, the muscles stretched tight beneath his black t-shirt.

"Alec," he said into his phone. He bowed his head and rubbed a hand across his neck absentmindedly as he listened. "Right. Give me five minutes."

"What's up?"

Alec stood, turning just enough for her to see his profile, but not enough for him to look at her. "Stinker's got a line on some medical supplies. We'll have to move fast though."

"Stinker?" Max asked.

She saw Alec's lips quirk up in a smile, though he still wouldn't look at her. "Trust me. You don't want to know."

Max got out of bed and padded around to stand in front of him, purposely ignoring that the strap of her tank was still off one shoulder. "Maybe I do," she said seriously. "Maybe I want to know what's going on with you."

Alec backed away from her and grabbed his trousers, pulling them on roughly before jamming his feet into his shoes. "Max, the only time you care what I'm doing is when you yell at me for dragging you into trouble or when I've screwed up and you have to step in."

"That's not true."

Alec actually snorted. "Yes. It is."

"Well, not anymore." She once again stepped into his line of vision. "Alec, you know things are different now."

"I've got to go," he said lowly.

He was running. Max could see it. She knew all about running and could certainly recognize it in someone as damaged as herself, maybe more damaged than herself. "I'll be here when you get back." She'd meant it to be reassuring, but she could tell from Alec's posture that he'd taken it almost as a threat. "We can talk."

Alec smirked. "As long as you don't jump me again. I'm not that kind of guy."

Max felt herself blush and knew her cheeks were a brilliant rose red. She forced herself to look at him, however. "We'll see."

"Max," he said, a touch of the old playful Alec appearing and Max felt her heart swell with pleasure, "I might have to report you for harassment. I don't think a superior officer is supposed to be making advances to someone who has to take orders from them."

"Feel free to report it to your CO."

"That's you," he said straight-faced.

Max raised an eyebrow. "That so?"

"Pretty sure."

Max grinned. "I'll look into it then."

Alec rolled his eyes. "I feel so much safer." He walked around her purposely keeping out of arm's reach.

Max turned to follow his progress. "I'm not gonna forget."

"I have to go," was all Alec replied.

Max could see it written all over him. He was wearing his thoughts around him like a shield. No ties. No connections. No feelings. Keep it all at bay. Keep it locked up. Ties were dangerous. Ties broke your heart. Ties got you punished. Ties got you killed.

"Be careful," Max ordered.

Alec actually looked back at her and it made Max's heart lurch painfully when she saw his eyes. She could see he considered her one of the things he had to be careful of.

Alec opened the door and started out. "Always."

* * *

Max heard the commotion and hurried out of her office. Everyone was crowded around the radio and Max realized what she was hearing. Gunfire.

"_Blink, 2 o'clock_!" Alec's voice. He sounded strained, but in control and Max heard more gunfire in the background. "_Head down, New Guy! Everybody fall back to the rear gate_."

"Do we have another team ready to go?" she asked.

"We don't know where they are," Mole answered grimly and there was nothing they could do about it. Everyone simply stood, waiting for more. Alec was a professional. He would contact Command when he could or when he thought it would do any good.

"_We lose them_?" Someone else's voice that Max didn't recognize.

"_Door on the left. Everyone in now_." Alec giving orders again.

There was some sort of garbled response and then nothing. Max started pacing back and forth. "Anything on the news yet? That'll let us know where they are at least."

"Nothing yet," Dix answered.

"_Command, come in_."

"Go ahead," Mole said into the radio and Max was sorry that she wasn't the one who answered Alec.

"_We're going to hole up until it's safe to move,_" Alec said quietly.

"Where?" Max muttered angrily. "Tell us _where_."

"_Request radio silence. We'll make contact when we can_."

And that was that. They wouldn't hear anything else until Alec's team was coming in. Max just kept pacing. She was used to being in the action and the idea of doing paperwork while the teams were out never did sit well. It seemed repulsive now that Alec was in danger.

The worst thing was that if Max didn't know better, she'd say Alec had done it on purpose. It was an ugly thought that he might consider bodily harm a safer bet than talking to her.

He wasn't going to get out of it that easily. When he got back, she was going to kill him and _then_ make him talk to her.

* * *

_That's the last of the flashbacks and brings us back to where the story began. Hopefully a little less depressing than the last chapter. More soon…_


	7. Chapter 7

**A Little Birdie Told Me**

Summary: Supply runs keep going wrong and Max needs to figure out why… MA.

_Righto… Enough with the flashbacks already! So back a million years ago when this story started, Alec had just returned from a disastrous supply run that had kept Max pacing for two days. Alec was a little worse for wear, but in one piece, and keeping up the Get-Rid-of-Logan campaign, while Max was feeling a bit bereft standing there between the two men in her life._

_Now on we go…_

Chapter Seven

* * *

"Max, I need to talk to you," Alec said quietly. "You, too, Logan," he added after a second.

"What about?" she asked just as quietly.

"Not here." He shook his head. "Mole?" he shouted across the room. "You got things handled for a while?"

Mole rolled his eyes. "Sure. Take her with you," he nodded toward Max, "and don't bring her back until she's… happier. It'll be a favor to us all."

Alec gave the man a wide grin. "I'll do my best."

"Are you two through?" Max snapped.

"Yeah," Alec said tiredly, seeming to deflate. He began to limp toward the door and Max hurried to walk beside him. She took his hand and Alec accepted it gratefully. It didn't look like she was supporting him, but the effect was the same. They were all on the same side here, but the animal instinct was stronger in some of them than others and Alec couldn't afford to look weak.

Max looked behind them and nodded for Logan to follow. She saw that he was staring at their clasped hands, but it didn't bother her as much as it might have. Alec had asked for Logan to stay which meant they had a problem. Problems took precedence over all their other issues including awkward moments with the Ex.

* * *

It took longer than normal, but they finally arrived back at the apartment. Alec nearly fell onto the sofa while Max went to the kitchenette and got him a glass of water.

"Thanks," Alec murmured and promptly downed the whole glass. Max doubted he'd had anything to eat or drink in the past two days and gave herself a mental reminder to make him eat something before he passed out.

Alec allowed Max to help him prop his leg up on the sofa. "Anything I need to look at?" she asked.

"I'll let you look at it later," he replied.

"You sure?" she said, already pressing her hands gently around his knee that felt swollen.

"Yeah," he said tightly, glancing toward their visitor and Max could see he didn't want to be fussed over in front of Logan. She turned to see that the other man was standing against the wall just inside the door with his hands in his pockets, dejectedly watching the Manticore version of domesticity.

"Why did you want me here, Alec?" Logan said, unable to keep the irritation from his voice.

Alec looked at him and then to Max. "We've got a mole."

"I'm guessing you don't mean the big lizard you left in charge," Max said wryly.

Alec smirked. "No."

"So talk." Max walked back to the kitchen and filled a cloth with ice from a chest they kept filled.

"They knew we were coming," Alec said. He let her place the cloth over his knee, grimacing very slightly at the pressure. "And this isn't the first time I've thought it either."

"You were gonna tell me about this when?" Max demanded angrily.

"What would you have said without proof?" Alec shot back. "You'd have told me it was my fault, that I'd just screwed up again and was trying to blame it on someone else."

Max clenched her teeth shut to keep from snapping back at him. It was different now. She was confused about a lot, but of that, she was certain. When things had started going horribly wrong, Alec had shown his true colors and Max had been forced to reassess her opinion of him. The man she'd seen as a screw-up had become the first person she called in a crisis.

The problem was convincing Alec of that. He didn't trust her. She'd spent too long beating him down and telling him she hated him for him to believe that things could change. Alec had taken on the task of protecting everyone else, but at the moment he was just protecting himself. From her. It was a painful realization that she had created part of the problem. She had inadvertently added to Alec's shields and they were both paying the price.

"Just tell me what you think," Max finally said.

Alec looked at her guardedly, still trying to judge whether she was going to yell at him. He glanced toward Logan and Max could see that he'd decided she wasn't yelling because they had an audience. Max wanted to strangle him for thinking that was the reason, but that would have to wait for later as well. Maybe she _was_ waiting until they didn't have an audience, just not for the reasons he thought.

"We've had too many supply runs go wrong lately. That night I came back hurt," he laid a hand over his ribs where he'd been shot, "they were already on us even before New Guy fell. I just chalked it up to bad luck, but then there were other close calls, too close." He shook his head. "When White's men showed up for that last run with Carpenter, I figured maybe they'd caught a stray heat signature and followed us or something, but even then, I was pretty sure we had a problem. But this time," he closed his eyes, grimacing at the memory, "Max, there was no way this wasn't an ambush. They knew we were coming. They were waiting for us."

"What happened?"

Alec opened his eyes and glared at her. "Which part of 'they were waiting for us' don't you get? We showed up, grabbed the medical supplies and before we could run for it, they had us trapped."

"But you got away."

Alec's glare melted into a smug grin. "They were so frightened by my clearly superior skills they ran away."

"That so? Seems like I heard a lot of running and gunfire and nearly getting caught on the radio."

"There was some of that too," Alec admitted ruefully. "It was sheer luck they didn't know about one of the exits. I remembered seeing it on the building's blueprints. Remind me to send Manticore a Thank You card for the photographic memory. Comes in handy when I want to steal things."

"Or save your own ass," Max huffed.

"That too."

"What do you want from me?" Logan asked and Max and Alec both turned to look at him. Max had almost forgotten he was there. It surprised her and saddened her at the same time. For a long time, Logan had been a large part of her dreams for the future. Her reaction reinforced how differently she was feeling these days. Watching him now, she realized her plan to keep Logan at a distance had worked, perhaps too well, and not at all in the way she'd imagined.

She felt Alec's gaze on her and out of the corner of her eye saw him frown, looking from her to Logan. "Can you still get into the police records?" Alec asked.

"Probably," Logan replied.

"See if you can find any info on an informant."

"You can't have one of your people do it?" Logan asked. "You guys have been locking me out of pretty much everything lately. You've got your own computer specialists now," he added, only a hint of bitterness showing.

"If we've got a traitor, then it would be better not to use one of our people to look into it," Max said, instinctively understanding what Alec was getting at. "We don't know who we can trust here, but we at least know we can trust you." It was nothing but the truth. Logan was a good man and it hurt her to see him so unhappy. Unfortunately, she wasn't the woman who could make it right for him. That didn't mean she couldn't appreciate him for his talents and for his concern for his fellow man, transgenics included. "Can you try?"

Logan nodded, slightly mollified. "I'll see what I can find."

"Great." Alec set the ice aside, swung his legs back off the sofa and made to stand. "Now, if you don't mind, I've spent two days locked in a wrecked building with a bunch of guys with no sense of humor whatsoever." Alec got to his feet, or foot in this case. He wasn't putting any real weight on his bad knee. "I'm going to take a nice long shower."

"Max," Logan said, "if you want to give me some particulars about when the other supply runs-"

Alec wavered and Max immediately stepped forward to steady him. He began to push her away, but Max saw his eyes flicker in Logan's direction and he stopped. "Uhh… Max, you wanna help me. Could probably use some help getting undressed."

Max instantly flushed at the thought. She knew Logan was looking at her and tilted her head forward so that her hair would hide her face. "Sure." She put her arm through Alec's and let him lean on her as they walked toward the bathroom.

"I… guess I'll just call you later for the particulars," Logan said awkwardly.

"Thanks, Logan." She let Alec walk into the bathroom first and then followed him in. She gave Logan a little wave, wishing he would take the hint and leave, then closed the door. She turned around and leaned against it, her breath catching when she realized how close Alec was. It was a tiny bathroom, made even smaller by the fact that Alec was all she could see. He was leaning against the sink, just staring at her, his face expressionless. They both listened as the door to the apartment closed behind Logan.

"He's gone," Alec said unnecessarily.

"Yup."

"You can leave now."

"Do you want me to?" Max asked.

"I'm shy," Alec said without so much as batting an eye.

She snorted. "You've had no problem stripping in front of me for weeks and now you're shy?"

"That was before you jumped me," he replied, straight-faced. "I don't know if I can trust you to contain yourself."

"You're that irresistible, are you?"

"You tell me," he shot back. "You're the one looking at me like I'm a piece of meat." Max immediately looked away, embarrassed. "Not that I mind, really," he continued. "I just need to know where I stand."

"Where you stand?"

"You don't love me, Max. You don't even like me very much." And for once Max could tell he was being totally serious with her. "If you're looking for a good time because Logan can't get the job done, that's one thing. This game we're playing means I don't get to go near any girl but you." His green eyes were burning almost angrily and Max had to fight the urge to press back into the door. "But if you're gonna use this as just another reason to look at me like I'm the world's biggest screw-up who's figured out another way to make your life difficult, then you can just go."

"Alec, I don't-"

"Save it, Max." Alec limped past her and turned on the shower. "You can say you don't think it all you want, but the first thing that comes out of your mouth when something goes wrong is still 'what did you do now?' You love Logan, but you don't wanna kill him. Fine. I'm helping you with that because it helps me too. But this…" He waved a hand toward her. "Don't pretend this means something. You find the cure, you'll drop me like a hot potato and I'll be right back to being the bad guy. I'm tired of bein' the bad guy, Max."

"Alec, you know it's different now."

"Do I?" Alec smirked and it was an ugly thing to see. "You think I don't see how you look at him? How you watch him?"

"Of course, I watch him. I'll kill him if I bump into him."

"You think I don't feel you flinch every time I touch you?" he said as if she hadn't spoken. "You think that every night we're in that bed, I don't know you're wishing it was him?"

"Logan doesn't matter anymore. I don't-"

Alec laughed sadly. "You do. Max, I've spent my life being used. Manticore used me until there was almost nothing left." He shrugged as if it didn't matter. "I like sex, Max. I enjoy it and I'm good at it. But you think after Rachel that Manticore didn't make sure I saw sex as just another tool to use to get the job done? Do you know how many wives and maids and secretaries I slept with so I could kill my target?" He dropped his eyes and ran a hand over his face, his movements sharp and angry. "This is an Op. Fine. You want me to convince Logan you're off limits. Fine. But sleeping with you isn't part of the bargain. I'm not your breeding partner, Max, and I'm not your sex kitten. I won't be used like that any more."

Max was speechless. It was the most Alec had said to her in… almost ever. He rarely opened up and to admit so much… She just didn't know what to say.

"Great, Max. Thanks for that quick rejoinder. Glad we cleared that up." Alec shook his head. He pulled his shirt off over his head and turned back toward the shower. When he turned, he banged his knee against the sink and immediately started swearing violently. He half-sat, half-fell down on the toilet and grasped his knee, rocking back and forth in agony.

"Alec, are you-"

"Let me sum it up for you, Max," he bit out. "You want Logan. I'm not Logan and I'm not prepared to be your go-to guy until you find a cure and let you treat me like crap in the meantime for…" He waved one hand vaguely in her direction, the other still holding his knee. "I'm sure you'd figure out a way to say I seduced you in your time of need. You blame me for everything else that goes wrong. Probably tell Logan I practically raped-"

"Alec, STOP," Max ordered, hardly believing the furious stream of words. "Just STOP."

Alec closed his eyes and let his head fall forward. "Sorry…" he finally managed, breathing hard and still cradling his injured knee. "I'm sorry. Been a rough couple of days."

And just like that he switched it off. The anger, the bitterness, the jealously if Max didn't know any better, it was all gone in an instant and Alec's face was as placid as ever. He locked it all away and Max knew she wasn't going to get any more from him.

Manticore had certainly done a number on Alec. The guy was a good soldier, a decent guy when he chose to be, and an emotional cripple. How screwed up was it when she was the stable one in the couple?

"You need help?" she asked.

Alec looked up at her, his eyes narrowed. "I got it."

"Sure?"

He suddenly smiled, his head cocked to one side in bemusement. "Where's my Max and what have you done with her?"

Max just smiled back and opened the door, stepping outside to leave him to it. "Your Max will be out here waiting to make sure you don't fall and kill yourself in the shower."

"It's not that bad," he assured her. "It'll be fine by morning."

"I'll still be waiting," she said, and closed the door.

* * *

_More soon… Working on it…_


	8. Chapter 8

**A Little Birdie Told Me**

Summary: Supply runs keep going wrong and Max needs to figure out why… MA.

_This story is supposed to be a bit of an adventure as well as a romance, so let's get this show on the road._

Chapter Eight

* * *

Max couldn't sleep. It wasn't unusual, but tonight it was particularly bothersome. Alec was sleeping fitfully, very purposely keeping his back to her. Although it had still been daylight, after his shower, he'd gone straight to bed without saying a word. It might have been that he didn't trust himself not to have another outburst, but Max didn't doubt his self-control. He was closed down tighter than a drum. It was her. He didn't trust her and he was keeping her at a distance, protecting himself.

The problem was that Max was so used to doing the exact same thing that she had no clue what to do about it. She'd spent the better part of her life keeping people at a distance just to keep from getting caught or getting them hurt, or to keep them from inadvertently getting her hurt or caught. Alone was just safer for everyone involved.

Staring at Alec's back, however, she knew that just wasn't going to fly anymore. As much as it scared her, she knew it was too late for her. She'd just spent two days in torment, imagining every possible disaster because Alec was missing. Perhaps against her will, Alec had broken through her barriers and she cared about him. She just had to convince him to take the same chance.

How on earth was she supposed to do that? How did she convince him it was safe when she could barely convince herself?

She was putting up a good front, but Max wasn't just scared. She was terrified. It was a step she'd never managed to take with Logan. They were never "like that." It certainly hadn't been because of Logan. It had always been Max holding back, afraid to take that next step, to make it official. Giving herself over to another person just wasn't in her nature. Trust no one, don't let them know who you really are, hide what you can do, never stay in one place too long… Those all came naturally.

Max sighed. She and Alec were both so unbelievably screwed up. They were either perfect for each other or they were gonna kill each other.

Alec's phone rang and he reached out to grab it so quickly that Max knew he hadn't been sleeping either. He held the phone to his ear without rising. "What?" he said grumpily.

Alec listened for several seconds and then sighed deeply. "Great. Thanks, man. I owe you one." Whoever was on the other end of the line said something else and Alec chuckled. "Give me a couple of days and I'll see what I can do. The things I do to keep your girlfriend happy." Another second while Alec listened and then he laughed again lowly, a definite guy-talk chuckle. "Yeah, yeah. I get what I need and your girlfriend gives you what you need."

Alec closed his phone and turned to sit up on the bed, turning on the bedside lamp. He rose carefully and tested his weight on his knee. She could tell from the way he held himself it wasn't great, but it was obviously better than it had been. He found a pair of clean jeans and pulled them on, then a shirt and jerked it down over his head. He headed for the door and Max realized he was going to leave without telling her what was going on.

"Alec?"

He turned, pivoting on his uninjured knee she noticed. "I've got a contact who found some seeds that we've been looking for. I need to go."

Max quickly hopped off the bed. "Alec, you're hurt. We'll send a team."

Alec was already shaking his head. "This guy won't deal with anyone but me and if I don't show up in the next couple of hours, he'll just pass them on to someone else."

"I'll go with you."

Again, Alec shook his head. "Not a chance."

"If it's that easy an exchange, then what are you worrying about. We'll be in and out before you know it."

"Max, we can't risk you," he said pointedly. "We've had too many of these supply runs go wrong lately and until we know why, you're staying here. You're the visible one. You're the face of the transgenics and I don't want to see it dead on the next breaking news story. You're the leader and they need you."

"And they don't need _you_?" Max demanded. She noticed neither of them had said _I need you_, but set it aside. They'd cross that bridge as soon as she could get Alec not to freak out at the mention of the concept.

"You're the one they rally around, Max. You can't be risked."

"As you've pointed out, we've got a mole," she said angrily. "It's not safe for you to go either."

"I'll make you a deal," he said, a tiny quirk to his lips. "I'll watch my back out there and you use the opportunity to see if you can figure out who it is. How's that?"

"It sucks."

"Tell me what you really think, Max," he deadpanned. "Don't hold back on me."

"It sucks out loud."

Alec frowned, trying to look serious. "Is it any wonder you're the leader? You have such a way with words. Articulate, elegant, and yet to the point."

"Shut up."

He raised an eyebrow. "And here I thought you wanted us to communicate."

Max pursed her lips. "Promise me you'll be careful."

"Of course, I-"

"And if anything seems off you run for it," she ordered. "I mean even the tiniest, littlest bit off."

"It'll be a quick in and out. Just me this time, Max. I seriously doubt-"

"_Promise_ me," she pressed. She stepped forward intending to put her hand on his arm, but he quickly stepped just outside of her reach, genuine confusion on his face, as if it were impossible for her to actually care whether he came back in one piece or not.

"I promise." He took another step back from her, further distancing himself, although he kept his face impassive. "I'll be back soon." Alec hurried toward the door as if the Devil himself were on his heels and then he was gone.

* * *

Max walked into Command and everyone who didn't need to be there quickly decided to be somewhere else. The others who had no choice simply refused to make eye contact with the exception, of course, of Mole, who she was beginning to think actually lived in Command.

"Why do I get the feeling Pretty Boy didn't manage to ring your bell?" he grunted.

"You mention bells again," she snapped, "and I'll make sure you no longer have the equipment to make anything ring but a telephone. Got it?"

Mole snorted. "So that's a no."

Max gritted her teeth, refusing to respond despite the urge to turn the guy into a pair of boots. "Somebody turn up the police scanner."

Dix gave her an odd look, but did as she asked. "Anything we should be listening for?"

"Alec's out. I want to listen in case there's trouble."

"Should we be expecting trouble?" Mole asked pointedly.

Max just frowned. Her skin was practically itching she had such a bad feeling. "Maybe." Mole moved to stand beside her and Max eyed him warily. "What?"

"I've been keeping an eye out," Mole mumbled. "Haven't seen anything out of the ordinary."

"Me either," Dix muttered.

Max's jaw nearly dropped open in surprise, but she did her best not to react.

Mole rolled his eyes. "You and Prince Charming aren't the only ones smart enough to figure out we've got a mole." He shrugged. "Other than me anyway."

Max shook her head. Manticore hadn't bred them to be stupid or unobservant, although she was apparently pretty slow on the uptake lately. "Great. Keep your mouths shut and your ears open."

Dix was holding a set of headphones to his ear as he scanned various police frequencies. "Well, that's not good."

"What?" Max asked.

"That was the code to mobilize a Tac Team." Dix frowned. "We probably won't hear much else. They'll be using other means to talk to each other so we can't listen."

"Could be anything," Max said to no one in particular.

"Of course," Dix said.

"Because we're lucky like that," Mole added, chewing determinedly at his cigar.

Max's phone rang and she pulled it out of her pocket. "Alec?"

"It's Logan."

"Oh." She knew she sounded disappointed and Logan sounded just as put out, but she couldn't seem to care. It was past midnight, Alec was out in the city alone and Logan would only be calling because there was a problem. "What's up?"

"I'm still trying to get anything on the informant, but whoever it is they've made another call to the cops."

Max gripped the phone so hard she heard it crack and she immediately tried to relax. "How do you know?"

"I've got a friend at police headquarters. He called me when the guys started gearing up after a tip." Max heard him take a breath and she knew she wasn't going to like what he was about to say. "Max, whoever it is gave them a location and Alec's description."

"Where?" she managed to force past her strangled throat.

"Somewhere off Poplar. It's a little side street."

"Ok, thanks." Max ended the call and immediately dialed Alec. She let it ring until the voice mail picked up. "Answer your phone, you idiot." She hung up and dialed again, only to hear the same message. "His phone's off." Max wanted to throw hers for all the good it was doing her.

Max furiously turned to face the others in Command, who by this time knew something had gone wrong. Screw secrecy and figuring it out first. "I don't know which of you losers is trying to sell us out, but when I find out, I'm going to personally make sure you die messy. Everybody got that?"

Everyone was staring, though a few of them nodded, and a few others looked ready to kill whoever it was themselves.

Max flipped open her phone and tried Alec's number one more time. Still nothing.

"We'll send a team," Mole said. He started pointing to people, but Max stopped him with a wave of her hand.

"I'm going," she said sharply, already headed for the door, "and don't you dare try to stop me." She was tired of waiting while Alec was out in the trenches. She wasn't going to leave his safety to anyone else this time. She had a personal stake in making sure he came home in one piece.

She needed him and she was bringing him back.

* * *

_More soon… Maybe tomorrow, maybe not. Depends on the motivation. Y'all know I like my Sunday afternoon naps…_


	9. Chapter 9

**A Little Birdie Told Me**

Summary: Supply runs keep going wrong and Max needs to figure out why… MA.

_Ok, ok… No nap. Sheesh…_

Chapter Nine

* * *

Max pushed the motorcycle to go faster. There wasn't much time. Dix was feeding her what information he could glean and from the sound of it the police were moving quickly to surround where Alec was meeting his contact.

Seeds. Alec was about to die over _seeds_. Why in the world were they so desperate to have seeds anyway? It wasn't like any of them were gardeners at Manticore.

Max stopped two blocks away from Poplar and hid her Ninja behind a dumpster. She skirted several people who were obviously police officers, though they were pretending to be vagrants or people simply walking in the area. There was a big van that was most likely filled with guys in full SWAT gear ready to jump out at any given moment. She walked past that as well.

As she passed the next alley, a hand flashed out. Max gasped as she was hauled into the dark passageway and felt a hand clamped over her mouth. She instinctively sank her teeth into it.

Max heard a hissing intake of breath before she was roughly shoved across the alley, banging into the brick behind her. A second later, she was being pressed back into the wall by the full, muscled weight of someone larger and stronger than she was. The hand was once again placed over her mouth and she could feel the blood from where she'd bitten him smeared against her face.

"Max, will you give me a break here?" Alec whispered angrily. "There's an entire herd of cops outside this alley. I don't know about me, but I'm pretty sure they know _your_ face from the news."

Max relaxed, immediately calming and sagging back against the brick behind her. Alec, however, did not release her, remaining pressed against her.

"You gonna bite me again?" he asked, irritation still in his tone. Max shook her head and Alec finally withdrew his hand. He used his sleeve and none too gently wiped her face. "Max, what are you doing here?"

"The mole called the cops and gave them your description. They're here specifically for you." Alec just nodded and stepped back from her, holding his hand carefully. "You're not surprised," Max accused.

"I had a funny feeling they were gunning for me on the last supply run, but I thought maybe I was just being conceited," he said matter-of-factly. "At least I got the stuff first this time before it all fell apart."

"Screw the supplies," Max hissed. "You've got an entire tactical team gunning for you and we need to get out of here."

Alec nodded once again, then looked at her, though the darkness hid his eyes and she wished she could see them. "When we were in the bathroom… What did you mean when you said 'Logan doesn't matter anymore'?"

Max's stared back in disbelief. "I really don't think this is the time!"

"It's the perfect time," Alec said casually. "We're pinned in an alley, nothing to do, nowhere to go."

"We're supposed to be figuring out how to get out of here."

"Maybe getting out isn't a problem. You tell me what you meant and I'll tell you how we get out of here."

"Alec, we need to go!" Max said in frustration.

"So answer the question and we'll go," he said calmly.

"What do you think I meant?" she snapped. "It's pretty self-explanatory. Logan doesn't matter anymore. He's got nothing to do with you and me."

Alec simply stayed where he was, his back against the wall, his face a carefully blank mask as he regarded her. Finally he sniffed derisively. "There is no you and me, Max. You asked for my help and I did what you asked. Don't go getting this confused with anything else."

"I'm not the one who's confused," Max answered straightly. Alec was thinking about what she'd said, but just couldn't bring himself to believe her. It was put up or shut up time. Despite his calm exterior, he was more affected by what was going on than he was admitting. She _had_ to convince him she was serious. "Why do you think I'm here right now? I'm here for _you_. This stopped being about Logan a while ago and we both know it. I'm just willing to own up to it."

Alec shifted uneasily and turned slightly so that he wasn't facing her. "You're never going to get over him," he scoffed. "_That_, we both know."

Max could hear the undercurrent of desperation in his tone and she wanted to shout in triumph. Desperation meant he was weakening. It meant he was fighting to keep his defenses up. Alec was frantically trying to hold onto the only thing that had ever kept him safe; Alec's number one rule, depend on no one but himself. But Alec's desperation meant he knew he was fighting a losing battle. Max could scent victory.

"Alec, you are really starting to piss me off," Max said, stalking across the alley toward him. Alec just blinked in confusion. "Have I ever lied to you?"

"What?"

"Cause when I tell you Logan doesn't matter anymore and you tell me he does, that means you're calling me a liar."

Alec eyes narrowed. "More like mistaken."

"So now I'm dumb and a liar? I don't know my own feelings?" Max demanded.

"Confused?" Alec tried and she saw a tiny quirk of his lips as if he was trying not to smile.

"You really wanna dig this hole any deeper?" she asked dryly.

"Will it get me out of this conversation?"

"Nope."

"Thought not."

By this time Max was standing directly in front of him. She grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled him down so that they were nose to nose. "I know my own mind and I say Logan doesn't matter anymore. I came here for _you_, because I care what happens to _you_. Got it?"

Alec didn't say anything, just looked at her, studying her, as if trying to judge the truth of it. In the dim light, she saw so many emotions warring in his expression it was almost dizzying to watch. She knew how confused he was just from how much he was letting her see.

"I'd suggest you answer me, Alec. And just so you know, I'm either going to punch you or kiss you depending on your answer."

One second she was looking him in the eye, the next Alec's arms were around her, lifting her, crushing her to him. He turned, pressing her back into the wall, his mouth nearly bruising on hers. She wrapped her legs around his hips, gripping him tightly, almost afraid he might still drop her and run for it. She threaded her fingers through his hair, holding him to her, returning his kiss with equal desperation.

He tore his mouth from hers and his lips traced a line across her cheek to her neck. "You gonna give me the hickey… to end all hickeys?" Max asked breathlessly, absolute euphoria spreading through her system. She wanted to laugh, she wanted to weep, she wanted to crow in exultation. Alec was in her arms and the world finally felt _right_.

"I can do better than that," he said, his voice rough. Alec pressed his hips into hers and Max gasped, tightening her legs around him. The sound stopped him. He kissed her again, one last rough buss before he very deliberately disentangled himself from her. "But not here."

He set her on the ground and made sure her shaky legs would hold her up before taking a step back. Alec chuckled lowly and ran a slightly shaky hand through his hair. "Max, you're enough to make a guy forget about a SWAT team waiting to kill him."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Definitely a compliment." Alec grinned and it was the old Alec, the one she'd been missing. It was the cocky, easygoing Alec who was prepared to take on the world, and this time she could see that he was willing to do it just for her.

"About time," Max said. "Thought I was going to have to tie you to the bed until you admitted you were being an idiot."

"What can I say?" He grinned again and Max couldn't get enough of seeing that grin. It was Alec. Her Alec. The _real_ Alec. "I'm a little slow sometimes. It's hard work being this messed up."

"Join the club. We're handing out membership cards," she said.

He shook his head in disbelief and laughed quietly. He looked like the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders. He looked young and cheerful as he was meant to and Max felt the same way. She hadn't thought it would take a filthy alley and a SWAT team to make Alec realize she was serious, but then nothing in their lives ever really worked out the way she expected.

"Now can we go?" she asked wryly.

"Come on." He held out a hand to her and drew her to the other side of the alley. "Up and over, Max. We'll take the rooftops."

Max looked up and saw an ancient looking fire escape. She'd been so intent on Alec earlier that she hadn't even noticed it. It was too high for the average person to reach, but it was child's play for a couple of transgenics. They didn't even have to bother with pulling down the noisy metal ladder. One jump and they were easily on the first landing. As quietly as possible they worked their way up to the top of the building.

Max stepped out onto the roof first, Alec only a step behind her.

"Well, well. What have we here?"

White. Max would know the weasel's voice anywhere. He was standing about fifteen feet away, flanked on either side by a pair of flunkies.

"I've been trying to catch 494 here ever since I heard the two of you were an item," the man sneered. "He's always out running around causing trouble and I figured it was the easiest way to draw you out of Terminal City, 452."

Max frowned in annoyance. White was completely ruining her triumphant moment. "You know, Ames, one of these days you're going to figure out that whatever you're doing really isn't worth all the trouble."

"Oh, I already know you're not worth the trouble," the man said coldly. "You're an abomination. Every last one of you. You're barely worth the price of a bullet." He raised his gun and pointed it, not at her but at Alec. "I appreciate you saving me some time, 494. I was going to have to use you to draw her out and that was going to take a lot of time and aggravation. You've managed to bring her with you and saved me all of that."

Alec cocked his head to one side. "I'm pretty sure I'm insulted."

"Take it however you want. You're still useless to me now." White didn't hesitate. He simply fired.

Max didn't hesitate either. She threw herself in front of Alec. She felt a second of white hot pain and then nothing else.

* * *

_See? This is what happens when I don't get a nap. I get grumpy and people get shot. Y'all have no one to blame but yourselves!_

_More soon…_


	10. Chapter 10

**A Little Birdie Told Me**

Summary: Supply runs keep going wrong and Max needs to figure out why… MA.

_Finally, Alec gets to talk today. He's earned it. This story has been awfully hard on him. Not that today is any easier, but he at least gets to talk about it._

Chapter Ten

* * *

For half a second, Alec was stunned into immobility. He caught Max before she fell and lowered her to the ground. He glanced up and saw White still standing with the gun in his hand, a similarly stunned look on his face.

And then Alec saw red. He wasn't sure what happened after that but the next time he stopped to breathe, the familiars were unconscious or had been knocked off the rooftop. White was flat on his back staring into the barrel of his own gun which Alec had somehow managed to get hold of. Alec could hear the SWAT team clomping up the fire escape and imagined more would be swarming up the steps inside the building. Throwing familiars off the roof probably hadn't been his best bet for not giving away their position.

"Are you gonna shoot me or just keep staring at me?" White snapped.

Alec stood up straight and brought the heel of his boot down viciously on White's face. He didn't even wait to make sure that White was unconscious, although the amount of blood pouring from his nose was very satisfying.

Alec tucked the gun into his waistband at his back, scooped Max up in his arms and ran in the opposite direction of the fire escape. He couldn't look at her yet, wouldn't. The cops were right behind him and he had to get her away before he could do anything else for her. Besides, if he looked at her, he'd probably go back and empty his gun into White just for good measure, police or no police.

The next building was far enough away that Alec thought twice about jumping. He had a bum knee and he was carrying an extra person. He didn't really have a choice, however. The cops were hot on his heels and more importantly he didn't know how badly Max was hurt. She was still unconscious which certainly wasn't a good sign.

As he approached the edge of the rooftop, Alec put on a burst of speed, ignoring the protests his knee was making, and jumped with everything he had. He landed hard and his knee made a noise that told him he was going to be sorry as soon as the adrenaline wore off. The impact nearly jarred Max out of his arms, but he clung to her fiercely and rolled, protecting her as best he could.

He got back to his feet and ran. He could feel his shirt was sticky and knew it was Max's blood. The thought pushed him faster.

"Max?" Alec said, panting. There was no response and he shook her. "Max!" She groaned and her eyes fluttered open just barely. "Max, where's your bike?" he demanded. "I need to know where your bike is!"

Max's eyes fluttered again and he could see her trying to focus. "Dumpster."

"You hid it behind a dumpster?" Alec asked, gasping as he ran, resettling her in his arms as he found another fire escape and tried to make his way down. "Where is it?"

"Two blocks." She blinked distantly again. "South. By laundry."

Alec ran with every last ounce of strength he had. He had to stay ahead of the sector police. He had to get past the checkpoint before they closed everything down. He had to get Max back to Terminal City.

Alec wanted to weep when he saw Max's Ninja stashed just where she'd said it would be. He climbed on and settled Max in front of him, facing him. She was barely conscious and she wouldn't be able to hold on if he put her behind him. He held her close, her legs thrown over his, straddling him. "Put your arms around me, Max," Alec ordered. He waited for her to obey, frightened by how weak her grip was on him.

Alec started the bike and drove down the alley the dumpster was in. He crossed the next street and then went down another alley, then again. Once he was satisfied he was far enough away from the SWAT team and their cordoned off area, he floored the bike, heading in the opposite direction of TC. The first thing the cops would do was close down that checkpoint. They would assume any transgenic would be trying to get back there. Alec would have to go in the opposite direction, get through that checkpoint and then circle back around in a big enough loop that they wouldn't know that he was who they were looking for.

All of which would take time, which he just wasn't sure they had. Or Max more specifically.

Alec swore furiously. He should have known. He was just doomed. He had been since birth. Manticore had seen to it.

For weeks he'd been doing his best to keep Max at bay, keep himself in check. He of all people knew just how dangerous it was for people like them to become attached. He'd done fine, kept himself busy with supply runs, ignored the way she looked at him, kept his back to her while they slept, ignored that her scent lingered on his skin even when they were apart.

He'd found himself longing for the moment when they would leave the apartment. He could touch her then and it was fine. It was just part of the Op. That was all it was, he'd told himself. It didn't mean anything. She was still in love with Logan, after all. Alec was just an afterthought to her, a necessary annoyance.

Still, he'd found himself weakening. He'd known it was wrong, a disaster in the making, a recipe for heartbreak. Then he'd woken up that morning to see Max's skin covered with runes. Before he could stop himself, he'd reached out to trace them and her warm skin beneath his fingers had been his undoing. When Max had turned to him, he'd known he was lost. Alec had spent those two days when the sector cops had them pinned down coming up with every possible reason that being with Max was a terrible idea. He'd fought it, yelled at her, refused to believe her, but he'd known it was useless. He'd been a goner the second she'd come into his office and told him she needed his help with Logan.

Max had lost people close to her, too many people. She should have known better, and yet for some reason she couldn't help caring about the people around her. She protected them, loved them, fought for them time and time again. They both should have known better. But if she couldn't keep her distance then Alec should have. He should have stayed away. Because now Max wasn't just fighting for him or caring for him. She was dying for him.

Alec saw the checkpoint ahead and slowed the motorcycle to a crawl as he approached. He kept Max where she was and hoped the darkness would hide the blood.

"Sector pass," the guard said. He sounded bored and Alec was grateful. It meant the guard hadn't been given an alert yet to watch for them.

Alec leaned down and nuzzled at Max's neck as he fished his pass out of his pocket and showed it to the guard. "Sorry, Maxie," he whispered only loud enough for her to hear. He tightened his arm around her, pressing her closer to him and Max moaned involuntarily. Alec hated causing her more pain, but he was desperate to get them through the checkpoint as quickly as possible. As far as the guard was concerned they looked like lovers who needed to get a room.

"Where's her pass?"

"Oh, come on, man," Alec said jovially, with just a hint of impatience. "Are you really gonna make me find hers too? I live just over there." He pointed with the hand that wasn't holding Max. "We're kind of… busy."

Alec put his free hand under Max's thigh and once again pulled her tightly to him. Max moaned again and the pain made her claw at him more tightly, the muscles in her legs tightening so that she rose, looking like she was nearly trying to ride him then and there.

It was the most awful, unsexiest thing Alec had ever seen or felt, but he tossed the guard a lascivious grin over Max's head, now tucked against his chest. "Come on, man. Give a guy a break."

The guard snorted appreciatively at the sight they made, half-leering like he wanted to get in on the action. It took everything Alec had not to get off the bike and smash the guy's ugly grin into pulp. Instead, he turned back to Max, once again nuzzling her neck. "Hold on, Max. Almost there."

The guard gave them one last look, laughed and shook his head, then waved him on through. The guy would never know how lucky he was. Alec had been prepared to just shoot him if he held them up any longer.

Alec once again floored the bike. He raced back toward Terminal City, avoiding anything else that might slow them down. He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed Command, swearing at how awkward it was while trying to hold Max and control the motorcycle.

"_What_?" Mole said.

"Max is hurt. Have them ready in Medical."

"_Copy that_."

Alec shoved the phone back in his pocket as he drove the bike into the garage they'd been using to hide them. Since TC had been locked down, getting the motorcycles in and out had become nearly impossible. They'd decided to keep them in a garage close to a sewer entrance so they could still use them to get around the city. Alec got off the bike, gathered Max in his arms and ran for the tunnels. It was only two hundred yards of sewer, but with Max held close against him it felt like miles.

He burst out of the tunnels and blurred toward Medical. Mole had informed them as asked, and as soon as he appeared, there were hands waiting to take her from him. In seconds, she was gone, disappearing into a crowd of people as orders started flying.

Alec fell to his knees, panting for air. He was immediately sorry. His injured knee was screaming in agony and Alec rolled off it, landing on his back, grasping it tightly. It didn't matter though. Max was in good hands. They were the best field medics Manticore could create. She would be fine. She had to be.

Alec got to his feet, biting his lip to keep from crying out as he put weight on his knee. It still didn't matter. Alec had one thing left to do.

Other than Max, Alec had told only one person about the supply run. Just one.

Alec walked out of Medical into the chilly night air. The sun would be coming up soon, but if Alec had anything to do with it, there was a transgenic who would never see the dawn.

Alec strode toward Command. He'd never had any doubts about his place in life, or if he had, those doubts had been beaten out of him. Alec knew who he was. He was a trained assassin.

He locked everything else away. The emotions, the worry, the pain, the anger. He wasn't Alec anymore. He wasn't 494 either. He was just a man on a mission.

And he had someone to kill.

* * *

_More soon…_


	11. Chapter 11

**A Little Birdie Told Me**

Summary: Supply runs keep going wrong and Max needs to figure out why… MA.

_Today we take care of the little mole problem…_

Chapter Eleven

* * *

Alec stalked through the door into Command and stopped. Every eye turned toward him and several jaws dropped open. Mole actually took the cigar out of his mouth.

Alec didn't bother to look down. He knew he was a mess. Max's blood was drying stickily on his skin where it had soaked through his clothing. It was a constant reminder of why he was there.

"Where's Flit?"

Mole came forward almost warily, as if approaching a rabid animal. "What happened?"

"Flit," Alec asked again. "Where is he?"

Flit was the only person that Alec had called before he headed out for the buy. Of all the weird things Manticore had managed to come up with, Flit and his crew had a little too much hummingbird DNA. They'd been having a rough time because while normal food was fine, they also needed flowers.

Apparently Manticore had worked out a synthetic replacement, but now that they were out, flower nectar provided something funky they had to have. Alec hadn't really been listening when they'd tried to explain. All he'd heard was that they needed some flowers or they were going to be in a bad way. Alec had found them a few flowers, but the seeds were what they were really after. The Hummingbird Brigade as he'd taken to calling them would be able to set up their own nursery and Alec would get to stop sneaking in honeysuckle or whatever.

Alec should have known who it was sooner. He should have _known_. Flit's people weren't graceful like the cats, but they were freakishly fast, faster even than the rest of the Xs, light on their feet, and had impressive eyesight. Their metabolisms were sky high and keeping them in food was nearly impossible. As a result, they were mean as all get out. They were nasty, leanly-muscled fighters and whether in food or mates, they were ferociously territorial.

When Alec had been assigning apartments, Flit was the transgenic who'd been fighting to get the apartment next to Max's. Since then, Alec had been forced to stare him down several other times to reassert his status as Max's one and only. Apparently Flit had decided that getting Alec bumped off on a supply run was the only way to get the job done without letting Max know what was going on. The problem with that was that Flit had gotten Carpenter killed, Pepper too by extension. He'd gotten others hurt as well and caused problems bringing in badly needed supplies.

Alec needed to have a little chat with Flit.

"Alec, you have to calm down. Whatever happened, we'll take care of it," Dix said, walking closer with his hands held out in the traditional I'm-unarmed-don't-shoot-me position.

"I am calm," Alec said.

"Yeah, I can see that," Mole observed. "You're also covered in blood."

"I'm aware," Alec replied. "Now where's Flit?"

"What did he do?" Mole asked.

"He's the informant and Max got shot," Alec said coldly. "I'm going to kill him. You have a problem with that?"

"Not really." Mole jammed his cigar back in his mouth. "Max ok?

"She's in Medical," Alec answered, not liking the catch he heard in his voice. "I… I don't know."

"Why don't you go sit with her," Dix suggested. He glanced at Mole and then looked back at Alec. "Maybe they should look at you, too. We'll find Flit and hold onto him."

"I think I'll stick with my original plan."

"Which is?"

"Flit's head on a platter and then I'll go sit with Max," Alec said steadily. He pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Anyone outside this room know that Max is down?"

"Just the medics and whoever saw you come in," Mole said.

Alec nodded and dialed the appropriate number.

"_Go for Flit_."

"It's Alec."

"_Oh. Hi_." Now that Alec knew what he was listening for, he recognized the hesitation, the anger underneath. He'd just shrugged it off earlier because all the hummingbirds always seemed pissed off.

"I got your seeds. You wanna come by Command, I'll meet you outside."

"_Everything go ok_?" Flit asked breezily.

Alec gripped the phone tightly, fighting the urge to cram it down Flit's throat. "Nothing I couldn't handle." The guy had to have solid brass ones to talk to him like he hadn't just tried to hand him over to White and the sector police.

"_Good_." Alec nearly smiled at the disappointment in Flit's voice. "_I'll be there in a minute. The others will be glad to hear you got them_."

Alec closed his phone and put it back in his pocket. He then walked outside, vaguely registering that Command emptied as everyone followed him out. He simply stood and waited as the others arranged themselves in a semi-circle behind him.

It was less than a minute before Flit sauntered around the side of the neighboring building. He was average height, sharply featured, red-headed and whipcord thin. He stopped about five feet in front of Alec, his eyes carefully scanning the people behind him. "You wanna tell me what's going on?" He eyed Alec's disheveled, blood-spattered state. "Thought you said the run went ok."

"You wanna tell me when you decided to turn us over to the bad guys?" Alec asked in return.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Flit answered, but he was already shifting his weight, readying himself to attack.

"You wanted Max that bad, you were willing to hand the rest of us over?"

Flit's eyes narrowed as he considered how to answer. Finally, he shrugged. "Not everyone," he said. "Just trying to get rid of a little competition."

"And so what if a few people got caught in the crossfire?"

"Survival of the fittest," Flit said casually. "The law of the jungle. You cats should know that better than anyone." The man raised an eyebrow. "Manticore didn't tell their Big Cat on Campus about that little rule?"

Alec ordered himself to stay calm despite the urge to just put the guy's head on a pike and mount it on the city walls as a warning to others. This wasn't revenge. This was justice, justice for everyone this bastard had harmed.

"Little birdies should be careful," Alec smiled a predator's smile, "about poking sleeping lions."

Flit bristled visibly. "Took you long enough to figure it out. This 'little birdie' could have killed you while you were sleeping, you're so slow."

Alec shook his head. "You were trying to get rid of me, but guess what? You completely screwed up this time. This blood? This is Max's. Don't think she's gonna want to date you now."

"Max?" the other man said, his jaw dropping open. "But she wasn't…"

"Supposed to be there?" Alec said coldly. "Yeah, I know."

"Is she all right?"

"Don't know." He eyed the other man. "Why didn't you just kill me if you wanted her that badly? It would have been a lot simpler."

Flit's face transformed into an ugly sneer and Alec was reminded that not all of Manticore's creations had managed to get away Scot free in the sociopath department. Some of them were just killers who took what they wanted. It made no difference who lived or died in the process.

"She wouldn't have given me the time of day if I'd killed you outright. I could've done it quietly, but she'd have turned over every rock in this city until she found out what happened."

Alec couldn't help a smile. She would have at that.

"I tried giving tips to the sector cops and hoped they would take you out, but they were too stupid to get the job done," Flit said in disgust. "I finally had to tell White and hope he would do a better job."

Alec's smile slipped away, cold fury slipping back into place. "He did a great job. He shot her."

"He wasn't supposed to do that. He was just supposed to kill _you_."

"Trusting White," Alec scoffed. "You're either too screwed up to be left on your own, or too stupid. I'm not sure which."

Flit grinned nastily. "You can keep talking all you want. You're just stalling." He pointed toward Alec's knee. "You're favoring your other leg. You're good, but I'm faster than you'll _ever_ be and there's no way you can beat me with your knee like that." Flit shifted back and forth on his feet as if to prove he was in fighting form. "Looks like you've got some other problems going on, too. You honestly think you can take me?"

Alec took the gun from where he still had it tucked in his waistband at his back and put a bullet between Flit's eyes.

Alec remembered the only good lesson Manticore had taught him, the first lesson Max had reminded him of when he was freed.

_Never abandon your unit_. Flit had forgotten that lesson, if he'd ever known it in the first place.

Mole walked around Alec and stood over Flit's fallen body. "About time you did that. I was gettin' tired of listening to him. Why are the crazy ones always so mouthy?"

"Mole?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm gonna pass out in about fifteen seconds or so," Alec said, already seeing black spots in his vision.

Mole snorted. "And?"

Alec sat on the ground heavily, his legs no longer able to hold him up. "Check on Max for me, will ya?"

The lizard man took his cigar out of his mouth. "Don't worry, Princess. I'll make sure you two have matching hospital gowns."

Alec felt the ground beneath his head, but didn't remember lying down. He heard Mole say something about Medical and then everything just faded away.

* * *

_We'll wrap it up tomorrow…_


	12. Chapter 12

**A Little Birdie Told Me**

Summary: Supply runs keep going wrong and Max needs to figure out why… MA.

_And here you have it all wrapped up. Thank you for the lovely reviews and I hope you enjoyed the story._

Chapter Twelve

* * *

Max awoke slowly, sounds filtering into her groggy consciousness. Beeping. Beeping was never good.

She struggled to open her eyes and was immediately exhausted by the effort it took. As she pried them open, she winced at the blinding lights overhead. She didn't have lights like that in her apartment.

Beeping, overhead lights…

Medical. She was hurt.

Which didn't quite make sense. She remembered the alley. She remembered Alec grabbing her and kissing her.

"You awake?"

The light was suddenly blocked out by a huge shape looming over her. A shape that smelled a bit like… lizard and tobacco. "Mole?"

"It's a good thing you're not dead," he said gruffly, "or I'd kick your ass myself."

"Huh?"

"I voted to abandon this dump and it was your brilliant idea to stay. You get yourself killed and leave me here to put up with these morons by myself, I'd never forgive you."

"Softy," Max mumbled. She felt like she was missing something, but couldn't quite get her fuzzy brain to focus. SWAT team, Alec in the alley, then… "Alec?"

Mole stepped to one side. Max turned her head slightly and saw another cot several feet away. Alec was lying very still, pale as a ghost.

"What… 'appened?"

"Had to rebuild his knee. Stab wound caused most of the problems though. Not sure where he got it. Lung collapsed. Somebody bit him too which is kinda freaky."

"S'ok?"

"Will be…"

Mole was still talking, but Max was fading away. Alec was all right. That was enough for now.

* * *

Max awoke slowly, blinking her eyes against the too bright light. Her stomach hurt and she tried to raise her hand only to find it wouldn't move. She looked down and saw that she couldn't move it because it was already in use.

Alec was sitting beside her bed, his head resting on the mattress near her hip, her hand held tightly in his. He was facing her and she could see that he was fast asleep, dark circles beneath his eyes. He looked sickly pale and as worn out as she felt.

"Max?"

Her gaze rose and it took a few extra seconds for her eyes to focus on the figure at the end of the bed. "Hey, Logan." Her voice was barely a croak and he moved around to the other side of the bed. He grabbed a thermos with a long straw and brought it to her mouth so that she could have a drink. "Thanks."

"How are you feeling?"

"Been better."

"You're gonna be fine," he assured her. "Just need to take it easy for a few days."

"Alec?" she couldn't help asking, although she knew it was almost cruel to ask Logan to be the one to tell her.

"Fine, I think." Logan looked down, an almost rueful expression on his face. "He won't leave your side long enough for the medics to look at him."

Max smiled indulgently. She used a little more muscle this time and pulled her hand from Alec's grip. He stirred, frowning even in sleep, until she rested her hand on his head and brushed her fingers through his hair. He sighed and relaxed again, the frown easing away as she continued to run her fingers lazily through his dark blond locks.

"You find anything on the informant?" she asked. Logan's uneasy shifting on his feet suddenly stopped and Max looked back up. "What?"

"Alec found him and shot him," Logan said baldly. "He shot him point blank."

"Oh." Max really wasn't sure what else to say. Alec had found the person who'd caused so much disaster and taken care of it. She was kind of sorry she'd missed it.

"No, Max," Logan said frowning, "he shot an _unarmed_ man. He just killed him."

Max just shook her head, too tired to explain. A transgenic was never unarmed. As long as they were breathing, they were dangerous. They were walking, talking, lethal weapons. Logan never had understood that. He liked to think of her as a girl with a little bit of freaky DNA and a few problems shaking the evil government guys who were chasing her.

He didn't know about Carpenter either. Or Pepper. Or Blink who'd caught a stray round or New Guy who would be dead if Alec hadn't taken a bullet for him. He didn't know about all of the hardship caused because the supply runs had hit so many snags. Whoever the mole was, he'd earned his sentence.

"Who?"

"Someone named Flit. He was apparently trying to get rid of Alec to get to you."

"Hummingbird guy?"

Logan shrugged, still unhappy that she wasn't more upset. "I guess."

"Shoulda known. Those guys are jerks." It was also kinda weird, with the bird DNA and all. Birds chasing cats was just wrong.

"Max, I don't think you understand. Alec just shot him."

Max nodded. "S'ok." There was a reason she'd never told Logan but she'd told Alec about Ben's death. Logan never would have approved of what she'd done, not that she really did either, but she understood the necessity of it. A great many things in their lives weren't pretty. In fact they were downright ugly, but they were still necessary. Alec understood that all too well.

Max let her hand fall back to the bed and clasped Alec's in hers. She closed her eyes and let her head rest more heavily against the pillow.

She heard Logan's shuffling steps as he walked away from her and for the very first time, she didn't feel troubled at the idea.

* * *

Max awoke slowly. She opened her eyes and was momentarily disoriented. She'd expected the bright overhead lights, but instead she was surrounded by darkness. It wasn't a hard mattress beneath her either, but the comfortable mattress she was accustomed to. She was home.

As if drawn to a magnet, she turned her head and was faced with a sight a hundred times worse than almost anything she'd seen in years. It hurt more than any bullet, felt worse than any number of failures or disasters.

Alec had his back to her.

Max closed her eyes, a crushing weight settling on her chest. Nothing had changed. His back was to her as it had been from the beginning. She'd thought it would be different now, after the alley. She'd thought he finally believed her, that she'd convinced him she was serious.

She heard Alec stir, heard him turn on the bedside lamp, but refused to open her eyes for fear he would see the tears shimmering there. She felt his hand slide across her stomach and settle over the bandage.

"Max?" He sounded worried, scared even.

He leaned close and she could feel his breath whisper across her damp cheek. "Max, I'm…" She heard him swallow heavily. "Max, I'm sorry it hurts." He gently kissed her tears away, his full lips brushing her eyelashes. He pressed himself close to her side and slid his arm further around her, careful not to bump the wound as he held her.

"I'm sorry, Maxie." He placed another kiss on her temple. "We don't have anything for the pain that will do one of us any good." He tightened his hold on her very slightly. "I'm here. I'm right here."

Fresh tears tumbled down her cheeks, this time for an entirely different reason and she felt a sob begin to bubble to the surface.

"You jerk."

Alec froze. "What?"

"You scared the crap out of me," Max said, wincing slightly as she shifted and the muscles in her abdomen tightened.

"I scared the crap out of _you_?" Alec said, in less than a second going from frightened to furious. "Which one of us was stupid enough to step in_ front _of a bullet, _miles_ from help?"

"You would think you'd be grateful," Max snapped.

Alec's lips slammed down on hers, the kiss desperate and almost punishing. He kissed her until she was hurting for air before he pulled away. Alec rested his forehead against hers, breathing heavily. "Don't _ever_ do that again."

"I-"

"_Ever_, Max." He kissed her again, more gently this time, lingering, making sure she was thoroughly kissed before he drew back. "Ever," he whispered. "Please."

"So I guess I scared you," Max said shakily.

"You could say that." Alec eased back, stretching out beside her, his head propped on his hand, though he left the other resting against her chest, his fingers wrapped around her ribcage. "You ok?"

"Better now," she answered and knew it was true. Alec facing her, holding her, it made it all better.

"Gettin' kinda careless, aren't you?" he said, his tone slightly accusatory. "You keep getting yourself shot for other people."

Max remembered their earlier conversation and her lips twitched as she tried not to smile. "I know. I'm starting to think I'm defective."

Alec shook his head. "I have it on good authority you don't have a drop of junk DNA."

"I've spent half my life out here in filth and degradation," Max said, all mock-sadness. "Maybe I caught something."

Alec chuckled and she could feel the vibration where he was still pressed along the length of her side. "Yeah. I'm pretty sure you caught the martyr bug somewhere. Or maybe that's genetic."

Max smiled, although she was suddenly far from amused. "I couldn't let him shoot you."

"You should have," he said just as seriously. "I meant it when I said the other transgenics need you. I'm just the smart-aleck supply guy. There are fifty guys here who can do what I do, but you're the leader. There's only one you."

"And the one me says you can shove it, Alec, cause I'm going to protect you if I can," she replied bluntly. "It's just the way this works."

Alec sighed and slid his arm beneath her head so he could move closer still and rest his forehead against her temple. "I know, Max. That doesn't mean I have to like it."

"Me either." She turned her head slightly so that they were almost facing each other, her cheek just brushing his. "So you wanna tell me about the stab wound?"

"Heard about that, did you?"

"I'm the boss. I hear things."

"Mole," Alec said irritably. "Big mouth. I threatened to put him on refrigerator duty if he talked."

Max raised an eyebrow. "Apparently I'm scarier."

Alec snorted. "Only on a bad hair day."

"I do not have bad hair days."

"Says the woman who has me sneak in her _special_ shampoo every week."

"As you like to point out, I'm the face of the transgenics. You want me to look frumpy?"

"You're beautiful, Max," he said almost reverently. He closed the distance between their lips and kissed her slowly, lingering, breathing her in. "You're always beautiful."

"You're not so bad yourself." Max sighed contentedly. "Now stop distracting me and tell me about the stab wound."

"Bitchy, and latches on like a terrier, but beautiful," Alec added.

"Alec," she said, a clear warning. "What happened?"

"Don't really know, to be honest." He grimaced. "I went a little berserk after he shot you. One of the familiars must have got me before I threw him off the roof."

"You went postal because of me?"

"Yeah," he said, clearly abashed.

Max couldn't help a slight smirk. "It's kinda sweet. In its own screwed-up, Manticore sort of way."

"Gee thanks, Max," Alec said dryly. "I'd get myself stabbed more often if I'd known that was all it took to lighten you up."

Max felt tears once again pricking at her eyes. She had missed this. She'd missed the easy banter, the friendly needling. She'd missed the relaxed state of just being with Alec, just enjoying his uncomplicated company. She'd had no idea how much she was going to lose just by asking Alec to be something other than himself. For weeks now, he'd been beside her nearly every minute, but he'd been far beyond her reach, and it had been her own doing.

Max brought her hand up and laid it against his face, her fingers tangling in his hair. "I missed you."

He looked at her, allowing her to see the confusion in his expression. "Hard to miss me when I'm right here everyday."

"I still missed you," she said.

"That so?"

"Yeah."

"So what are you doing Friday?"

"What?"

"Friday. You have plans?"

"Recuperating? I did get shot after all."

"I think we should go out," he said solemnly, though he couldn't hide the amusement in his voice.

"How do you figure?"

"Since you're desperately in love with me, I think you at least owe me a date."

Max opened her mouth to give the usual scathing reply and just managed to stop herself. Alec was motionless next to her. His breathing was shallow and she realized he was bracing himself for the expected rejection. If Max shot him down, even jokingly…

She'd just barely convinced him of her feelings and he was testing the waters. Or maybe he wasn't as entirely convinced as he seemed.

"Fair enough," she said, her tone purposely light. "Got some place in mind?"

Alec remained very still for several more seconds and then a wide, stunningly beautiful grin spread across his face. "There's a new restaurant on Third. You'll love it."

"What's it called?"

He kissed her again, this time a joyful declaration of his feelings. He drew back, still smiling. "Birds of a Feather."

* * *

_And there you have it. Thanks for reading. Been a pleasure and I hope you enjoyed it. And to those of you who dropped me a line to say you'd taken a look at the novel, a very special thank you. I'm terribly flattered that you took the time. We'll see if the DA muse will strike again!_


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